NO JESUS IN CLITHEROE

Now, I have never been a huge fan of major religious iconography but it's a small world and we all have to share and get on with each other. This of course requires a little give and take. On Tuesday last, in order to forget my Birthday trauma the previous day, my friend Jonathan and I went on a little jaunt which after a very pleasant day taking photos of the snow covered Pennines, ended up in Clitheroe in Lancashire. Considering the main indulgences of Christmas were now over it was surprisingly bustling and many festive lights adorned the town.

We did the usual things that touriests do of course, including a bitterly cold ascent of the lethally iced steps up to the Castle and took in the panoramic views. On the way back down thinking only of a hot cup or tea or coffee and a warm place to drink it and shelter from the Siberian style wind, we passed Clitheroe's Nativity. "Hold on a Mo" said my friend, who was scrutinising the tableau "something's wrong here the Baby Jesus is missing. And so it proved. There was Joseph, Mary, the oxen etc, but it was true, the Crib was empty and Baby Jesus was nowhere to be found.

So who would do such a thing? could it be social services has taken it away because of the Arctic conditionss which were certainly not suitable for rearing a newly born infant, or, had local Pagans decided to exact their revenge, Perhaps even Mary and Joseph had failed to pay the local Romans the full applicable amount of Council tax ? Sadly the most likely solution to this mystery was that local Yobboes had nicked it whilst out on a drunken Xmas spree.

As i mentioned earlier, i don't go large on this kind of religious stuff but I do respect other people and their beliefs and even the traditions which go with it. and I think its s sad reflection of the times we now live in that some sniggering twat thought it was funny to nick the baby from the Christmas Nativity. I know from friends in that area that this is not typical of the people of Clitheroe but more likely a manifestation of the legacy of Thatchers Children served up with a Garnish of New Labour who together, had stolen the goodness from our society and replaced it with sniggering greed and materialism.

Hard to believe i suppose but it also later made the local press and Media, and they don't lie do they ? So whats the moral of this tale, is it my political rant about stolen values or merely a reminder that if you should go to Clitheroe, next Christmas, don't forget to take your own Baby Jesus with you. It may just come in handy. I think we should be told.

I PLAYER ON YOUR TV SET, DIRTY DIGGER IS FURIOUS AGAIN

The BBC has come up with a plan to extend the use of its much used IPlayer which enable people to watch most of its TV programs on demand once they have been shown on live TV. It works well though my own PC is already groaning under the pressure of running HD TV streams which are very processor heavy.

The new plan is to extend the the I Player so that other TV companies such as Independent TV and Channel Four or Five can also stream their progs on it. Most people are in favour of this except of course (step forwared the Dirty Digger) Rupert Murdoch the well known Right Wing Neocon Politicians with extensive interests in all kinds of Meda. His Sky TV in the UK has already achieved his stated target of 10 million users which rivals the Free View System which also has 10 million users. A number of other suppliers and ISPs also survice another two ro three million viewers and toegether this accounts for the majority of the digital market.

Mr Dirty is already whinging of course which he usually does whenever anything is suggested which might threaten his monopoly, especially if it is more left wing than his own org which of course, everything else is. My own view is that his sky service other than for sports fanatics is actually a crock of shit and most of us can manage perfectly well without it. The BBC may have a number of faults, who doesn't/ but it does also provide a wide range of good programmes which far surpasses in quality and diversity, anything that Mr Dirty can muster.

I wish the BBC good luck with its new sharing of video platforms proposal, it will make it easier for those who might other wise find it technically or finanacially difficult to set up streams and replays for the on demand market. And if it gives Mr Crappy a hard time, i would regard it as a welcome bonus. The new service provisionally known as "Canvas" coult begin as early as the New Year.

UK ARMY -- WHAT ARMY?

If ever proof were needed that Britain should not be involved in the Iraq or Afghani conflicts then todays announcement by the British Government that there will be major cuts in the armed forces merely to pay for more helicopters in Afghanistan must surely be it. Not only should we never have sent our troops into these conflicts at the behest of the notorious liar Tony Blair, we now know that we could not afford it anyway. Undoubtedly the credit crunch has hastened this realisation but for the last two or three years the armed forces have complained bitterly that lives are being lost because of an acute shortage of helicopters. Now we lear that we will at last get the choppers but to do so, bases will be closed, non front line jobs will be axed, a couple of Navy ships will go and one of our two aircraft carriers will not even have aircraft to carry other than the helicopters of course. Even training exercises will be be reduced.

For far too long the UK has tried to Punch above its weight but now this can be seen to be little short of posturing and for no good reason. We have been selling our own troops and airmen short for far too long as it is. Now we will at last get the choppers that our troops need but so much more will be lost. What a total disgrace and most of this can be laid at the door of our totally discredited ex-prime minister. To make a mistake is human but to follow an asshole like George W Bush into battle must top the lot. In the Iraq conflict the UK component was little more than a stocking filler and now the enquiry currently underway into the Iraq blunder shows how we were totally ignored by the US President. Presumably Blair held on to W Bushes trouser legs hoping for favours in the future. What an indiot he was, we didnt even get any thanks or respect. Not in our name please, not in our name.

RECORD INDUSTRY GREED HITS CHARITY SHOPS

I learned today from BBC Radio Fours program You and Yours that the greedy bastards in the Music Biz are at it againl this time its the charity shops who are being nailed. Currently, if a couple of people who are unpaid volunteers have the audacity to listen to the radio in the shop whist sorting through old clothes, books and bric-a-brac. the shop has to pay the Performing Rights Society £100 per annum for the privalage. Now we learn that the PPL the Phonographic Protection are also set to demand another £100 per annum. Those of you who would like to send hate mail can contact them at this address. PPL, 1 Upper James Street, London, W1F 9DE

ANYONE FOR COMPULSORY NUCLEAR POWER ?

As a long time campaigner against nuclear energy and "that monstrosity in Cumbria known to many as Sellafield" I can strongly endorse much of the atatement from Andy Atkins, Friends of the Earth's Exec Director who said....


" building new nuclear reactors is not the answer to the challenges of climate change and energy security.

"Nuclear power leaves a deadly legacy of radioactive waste that remains highly dangerous for tens of thousands of years and costs tens of billions of pounds to manage. And building new plants would divert precious resources from developing safe renewable power, while doing little to bring about the urgent emissions reductions that are desperately needed within the next decade."

"Ministers must develop the UK's huge renewable energy potential and embark on a massive national programme to cut energy waste. This will create tens of thousands of jobs, reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, cut emissions and make Britain a world leader in developing a green economy."


Sadly of course anything of even the slightest use from Gordon Browns continuing New Labour Project, soon to disappear under the fast rising waters of Political Climate Change comes with a sting in the tail and of course a reduction in democracy. This will be felt most notably in the changes the Gov have made to the planning process which allow them to fast track major projects such as Nuke Power Plants, Airports etc etc.

The previous planning system may have had some weaknesses or been a little slow but surely its better that all interested parties should have a say in the decision making when health and safety of the public are concerned and surely, few things can have a more disasterous effect on the environment than a new Nuke Plant or the "safe" (sic ) disposal of Nuclear waste.

Daily this appalling government are becoming more authoritarian and use any excuse to increase their powers and reduce our freedoms. If we vote this appalling bunch of shits, then we sure are like Turkeys voting for Christmas. Unfortunately the other bunch of nonentities show little sign of being an improvement. Nuclear Power No thanks, Not in Anyones Back Yard.

NEW LABOUR LIES NOW NEW TORY LIES

After nearly 12 years of New Labour porkies, involving WMDs, War mongering, the NHS, and finally a referendum on Europe, we have become accostomed to what we all really knew already, ie; our Government cannot be trusted and any promises made are just hollow posturing. Now we find that Camerons New Tory project is coming apart at the seams even before they get to Government.

At least New Labour waited till they got in power to begin breaking their promises to the electorate, but now, not to be outdone, Cameron has already broke his promise for a referendum even before he gets in. There will now be no referendum on the Lisbon treaty. Of course he must have known this before he made the promise, after all its easy to make promises when you know you wont be able to keep them. At least we now know that we definately cannot trust either New Labour or Camerons Conservatives and will have to look elsewhere for someone we can vote for.

Obviously Griffins bunch of thickos are beyond the pale and other than a small handful of worthy independents, we are really left with either the Lib Dems or the Greens. Both of these are unknown commodities other than at the local level but I am fairly sure that neither of the above will lead us into another senseless and unwinnable war which is at least a step in the right direction. And, they are also much more likely to approach Green issues with a bit of practicality and common sense rather than the "do as your told, not as we do approach of the two major parties.

Common sense is needed most of all at this time because not voting is not an option if you believe in any kind of democracy and want to see it realised for a change. The internet is playing an important and growing part in the electoral process. Face book and its childlike offspring Twitter are being taken seriously by politicians because of the damage the can do to political reputations in no time at all. but in the case of Twitter i am not sure that rule by text message is a step forward rather than merely another example of the dumbing down of the population.

Certainly bloggers can do a lot of damage to old myths and misconceptions and some of them are actually very good although my own efforts are probably below average except in my areas of expertise. Even if i cannot be a mover or shaker of governments and a catalyst for regime change, at least i can get a lot of my chest and clear my psyche for more ennervating matters.

MUSIC INDUSTRY SCORES OWN GOAL OVER ILLEGAL DOWNLOADING

Research published by Demos today shows that the Music Biz has got the wrong end of the stick yet again over people who are allegedly illegally downloading. It turns out that those who admit to illegally downloading are actually spending much more money on music than those who claim they dont download music illegally

.

People who illegally download music spend more on official releases than those who obey download laws, a survey suggested.
The think-tank Demos said it found illegal downloaders spent an average of £77 a year on genuine music, £33 more than those who claim never to have wrongly accessed music for free.
Nearly two thirds of people who admit to downloading music illegally also said that new and cheaper music services would encourage them to stop accessing illegal services.

The results come amid warnings from the Government that people who persistently download illegally face being disconnected from the internet.

The average "spend" on music by normal Joes and Josephines, is around £44 per ye

ar whilst those who admit to illegally downloading spend and average of £77 per year

Lets hope that this is not yet another bit of expert advice which our no nothing government ignores.

LOW ENERGY STREET LIGHTING SPREADS

A few months ago I talked with several local and County Councillors about low energy street lighting. The reasons were fairly obvious. not only does the Sodium glare rob us of the glory of the Night Sky its public money down the drain and a major component of CO2 emissions which helps to fuel climate change.
I put the case for low energy lighting, not the types using the traditional mercury filled orange bulbs so common on British Streets, but the even newer and lower energy LED lights we are so familiar with in our electronics in the home. LED lights have become much more efficient in producing light of virtually any colour and higher intensity. A standard lighting unit as seen on your street would probably be using 40 or 50 watts of energy but the new LED units being developed use as little as ten watts, a considerable saving for the council and our council tax bills. They also last up to ten years, Illuminate the street or pathway rather than your house or nearby fields and the blue white colour is much less strain on the eye and is more aesthetically pleasing.
The really good news is that work has been going on behind the scenes to help meet the UKs energy and CO2 emissions reduction plans. Here in Pendle i have already noticed some of the new lights appearing on our lanes and when i contacted Lancashire County Council for more details i was told there is now a plan to roll out 30,000 of these new lights ASAP. I also discovered that there is a similar plan being hatched in West Yorkshire.
Its nice to get a bit of good news for a change and it could get better. As newer and higher intensity bulbs are developed we could see them spreading to our major dual carriageways or motorways and as the technology developes, truly interactive lighting which turns itself off when there is no traffic or people on the roads. If security lighting can work this way then why not the majority of our unneeded lighting. Who knows, we may soon be able to see the stars again. I for one look forward to that.

DANDELION RADIO

Thanks to the On the Wire Blog for the following information about Dandelion Radio. Its an Internet Radio Station for those who like me stayed a loyal listener to John Peel and his shows no matter where or when the BBC suits dumped him.

His programs were and still are unique, he inspired and encouraged thousands of new bands and artists and played music which just could not be found anywhere else on the BBC schedules. The most notable and honourable exception being On the Wire itself, which John Peel himself listened to and enjoyed.


He even gave his name to the campaign to save On the Wire when the Birtistas at the BBC parachuted in a new manager to destroy the stations individuality. On the Wire listeners wont forget Johns help, energy and enthusiasm and it therefore gives us great pleasure to honour him and Dandelion Radio which is a part of his legacy.

As Andrew Morrison says on the Dandelion web site....
"Dandelion Radio marks the 5th anniversary of John Peel's death with "Peel Legends" month in October. Andy's 3-hour show features brand new sessions from past session guests on John's BBC Radio 1 show. You'll hear exclusive material from Eat Static, Davey MacManus (of The Crimea), The Aphrodisiacs, Decoration and Martin Carr, as well as some classic tracks from Extreme Noise Terror. On top of all this is a "New Legends" session from Atomizer, whom Andy feels John would've approved of. You'll also hear a New Order jukebox track from their 1998 Peel session; Teresa and Scott's monthly selections; and details of the 2009 Festive Fifty."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ON THE WIRE NOW YOU ARE TWENTY-FIVE

Last week I had the pleasure of joining with some familiar faces and voices from the last 25 years of On The Wire at BBC Radio Lancashire's studio in Blackburn. Most notably an old and outrageously talented friend called Adrian Sherwood the Genius behind On-U-Soundz who has recently released another Lee Scratch Perry album. The entire show lasting 4 hours featuring an interview or two with Adrian is available for download at this link http://otwradio.blogspot.com/2009/09/playlist-19th-september-2009-on-wire-is.html which you may have to paste into your browser. When you get to the page look for the audio link and you can download a podcast of the full show. The same will apply to the next couple of shows which will be featuring more special anniversary guest mixes from stations in the USA.

On the Wire is still available each Saturday night in the North West of England on FM at 10 pm, British Summer Time and via the BBC Radio Lancashire Website and later on listen again and at the On the Wire Blog address above.

In this increasingly commercialised and dumbed-down world, music programs catering for more rarefied and diverse musical and cultural tastes are about as rare as rocking horse shit and since the sad loss of John Peel it has become glaringly obvious how blinkered the BBC has become. It tried to end On the Wire in the early nineties when the John Birt reign of terror and rolling news threatened to squeeze every bit of individuality and regional accent from Local Radio in the UK. Only thanks to a truly enormous and indeed magnificent response from its many loyal fans was it saved at the last minute.

The North of England and its major cities harbour a truly extraordinary volume and quality of musical talent but without programs like on the wire and the work of Steve Barker and Michael Fenton (Fenny) much of it would probably never even get a first chance to be heard. And this dedication to music and creative talent rather than merely the latest D rated Celeb which has earned not only its loyal audience here in the UK but also many new fans via the net and even DJs and presenters on stations across the Pond. Maybe its now impossible to credit all who have contributed in their various ways but there's no harm in trying. It gives me great pleasure to reprint the Roll of Honour of those involved with On the Wire over the last 25. Thank you one and all and here's to the next twenty five.

Mike Martin, Jethro Binks, Steve Baldwin, Nick Shimmin, Gaynor Hegart, yAjay, Sarah Champion, Allison Martin, John Kerr, Roger Brough, Dr. Steve Redhead, Dr Alan Woods, Uncle Joe Wilson, Twin Boys, Mark E Smith, Mike Chapman, Ian Cooke, Christian Virant. Baked Goods Boys, Comix boys & girls,Black Banana, Brian Jackson, John Peel, Andy Kershaw, Harry Hawk, Terry C,Dr Starngedub, Eastern Bloc, Martin & Graham & 808 boys, Action, Gordon & AckerBoomkat, Shlom & Alex,Probe, Annie & Bob, Steve Hardstaff, Geoff Davies, Roger Eagle, Gary Hickson, Daniel Miller, Mrs Cakehead, Adrian Sherwood, Kishi Yamamoto,Blood & Fire boys, Dom, Bob and Steve Barrow, Alex Fenton, Brian Cox, Hovis Presley, Fredd Dootson, Phil & Mick Orch, Nigel Blackwell. John Tree, Buzz Bury, Pete Haigh, The Madhatter, Colin Joseph, Jah Wobble, Alan Bishop, Paul Rooney, Enrico la Rocca, Andrew Neal, Marvin Scott. Professor Les Scott, Neil Robbins, Phil Smith, John Cuckold, Astonihing Sounds, Beatherder Boys Nick & Tim, Gary Ward @ Darwen Music Festival, Richard Finlayson, Mr Wiz, Krispy, Gerry & Brenda Kenny, Coldcut, Negativland, Dave Katz, Martin Kelner, Russell and Melissa at Dubhead, Ray Hurford, Paul Meme, John Eden, Laurent at WTM, Martin Mills, Annie Bandez, Alison at Southern, Tony, Chris and all at the Wire, Charlie Gillett, David Toop, Dennis Bovell, Jan & Christoph at Jahtari,

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO TRUST ?

As a grass roots community and environmental worker over the last forty years, I can say with confidence that the main cause of of lack of trust and waste of time and resources on both sides of the pond and the political devide are the political party systems and the absence of proportional representation which they protect like gold. This in turn acts as a template for the corporate financial and business systems.

I have met throughout my life only a small number of politicians and businessmen and civil servants who i can really say i trusted and even fewer who I still trust. The rest are at best unreliable, many are personally motivated and some have little concern for anything other than personal power and financial advantage over others. Especially when in a Party or a corporate body a good individual tends to be swamped by the collective desire for power, influence and advantage. and the majority close ranks when anyone strays from the local orthodoxy. The same applies when someone commits a criminal act, or merely displays complete lack of ability or reliability.

The Party and Corporate system always looks after itself and those who toe the party line. Good is swamped and bad is protected against exposure. Large political majorities only breed arrogance and high handedness. and when I got the opportunity and challenged our former "leader" Tony Blair in a live radio phone-in, a couple of days before the 2000 AD election, his only excuse was that it would only give power to minorities. Events since then have only proved that we really do need more power in minorities and PR as this would actually increase democracy, force proper debate and prevent bad legislation and the outrageous conduct of the Tories in the Thatcher Era and and the Labour party in the Blair era.

The parties are still at it. They exaggerate as a reflex action to defend their policies and telling lies has become a virtue. Not suprisingly greed and dishonesty are now being elevated to virtues in this far from Brave New World. Thatcher and the Tories promised prosperity and property ownership but only to the few and to the detrement of the many. She also released control to the financial and banking systems, paving the way to the Credit Crunch and the chaos we are now experiencing. In the process she virtually closed down industry in the North of England and transformed the UK into an unsustainable service economy. When Blair was elected after many wonderful promises, he merely picked up Thatchers baton and ran with it to the detriment of the elderly, the sick and disabled and of course the unemployed with helped him finance his war mongering.

As long as we continue with the Party System and First Past the Post, we will always be at the mercy of clever marketing, ruthless politicians and our own weakness. Its time to introduce PR as in the Scotiish Parliament and make it possible for more independent candidates. Only then will we be able to lecture the rest of the world on the meaning of Democracy and of course restore the badly needed trust in our political and financial system.

ON THE WIRE, BBC RADIO LANCASHIRE 25th BIRTHDAY PARTY

Here's the final reminder that on Saturday 19th September the long running and unique program for real music and real fans, will celebrate 25 years of shaking the North of England with its unique blend of Musics. Special studio guests should include Lee Scratch Perry, the true Genie of Reggae Music and Dub, Jah Wobble and Legendary music producer and operator of On-U-Sounds Adrian Sherwood music journalists and special dub mixes from the USA furnished by Doctor Strangedub and Andy Swiss at The Echo Chamber on KFAI Minneapolis and St Paul, and Terry Collins aka the Turntable Terrorist at Echo Beach from WLUW Chicago.
Normally On the Wire can be heard on BBC Radio Lancshire on FM in the North of England and of course Worldwide via the Internet. For this special the normal slot of 10 PM till Midnight on Saturdays will be extended to 2 AM which gives us four whole wonderful hours of fun and tunes. So to be on the bus rather than under it. tune in at 10 PM and Join presenter Steve Barker, Fenny and Jim Ingham and their guests. If you cannot be there, it should be on BBC Radio Lancashires Listen Again list for the next seven days. I will be there with my video camera hoping to catch some highlights from the occasion which will then be available on You Tube and also on this Blog and the BBC web site.

AMERICAN HUMBUG over LOCKERBIE

It's very sad to hear all the humbug from the USA about Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi. I can easily understand the families of the Lockerbie victims being upset, especially when they like most people have been kept in the dark about the full story but i am very disappointed that Obama, who I thought was an intelligent man, jhas joined in the humbug.

Perhaps it would help him moderate his ire if he called for ALL the documents and evidence surrounding both the Bombing of flight 103 and the trial. For example, the evidence suggesting that the bomb was put on the plane in Frankfurt or the Mediterranean. Most of the evidence suggested it had been placed on the flight at Heathrow. According to security personnel talking to one of the bereaved British families, There had been a break in at Heathrow the day before the bomb outrage and luggage had been apparently tampered with. Something else I recall from the time was that the bomb was fairly sophisticated and had some kind of pressure trigger, designed to detonate when the plane reached cruising altitude. If this was the case, then one would assume that the bomb would have detonated before it arrived at London rather than after it left.

Two hundred and forty-three passengers, 16 crew members and 11 residents of the town of Lockerbie lost their lives when the plane was blown up. 21 Nationalities were represented, not just Americans English or Scots people. The Americans especially have no monopoly on outrage and to the best of my knowledge, Megrahi. has no connection with the 911 attacks. America prides itself on its justice and sense of write or wrong, talks about freedom and democracy, human rights and many other things which sound fine and dandy which it seeks to export to the world. But it may not seem like that if you are an ordinary American citizen and have to suffer, surveillance, police harassment, the use of the armed forces in civil issues, compulsory vaccination, fluoridation etc etc, yet at the same time have little access to Medical care if they have no money and have to go cap in hand and throw themselves at the mercy of whatever charity still has some resources.

I talk to Americans daily, they are almost always, frank, honest and friendly, they seldom whine about their own situations but increasingly I meet up with members of the once broad church known as the Middle Classes who have been reduced to penury, who have lost their homes and families having been lifelong hard workers and tax-payers. They no longer live in the USA but a place better called the United Corporate States. Where the discrepancy between the richest and the poorest grows daily and the Middle Classes gradually dissolve into the newly unwaged and dispossesed.

I have never, unlike many of my generation, been opposed to capitalism with a small C,and I am pleased that people can make a profit or a living and create wealth and jobs for other people. But when resources, technology, the media, medicine, industry and even the military fall increasingly into a declining minority of already super-rich hands then the symptoms of this, such as power mongering, political manipulation, fraud war wongering, expansionism and greed are in no way surprising.

Using bombs and missiles, the USA has bombed, missiled, manipulated, over-run, occupied, robbed and stolen the resources of other nations and cultures more than any previous nation. Whether this was at the behest of or financed by either the Government or various interest groups and vested interests matters little, the fact remains that it has done so. It even controls its neighbours. It has walled off Mexico and seems to have bought out Canada. Its dabbled in the politics of many South American countries, especially those who dared to experiment with any other forms of government Any one who disagrees is either labele a Commie or a pervert it seems yet the biggest commies and perverts seem to hail from the "Land of the Free"

America needs to realise that the world and its people do not work like clockwork, which can be wound up by the White House whether they be in South America, Europe or the Far East, If Megrahi. really is guilty then maybe Karma has finally caught up with him, or maybe he has just been a very unlucky man. Whether innocent or guilty, its better and cheaper for him to die at home in his home country and with his family. The state of Libya and his family can pay the costs of his medical care and/or burial. Clearly he is not a well man and medical experts agree he has three months or less to live. Perhaps America feels its missed out on another opportunity to torture someone but as new evidence surfaces about its activities agains alleged terrorists in its internment camps one would have thought they had more than enough to waterboard and threaten with electric drills.

When Flight 103 exploded and fell out of the sky over Lockerbie on the Scottish Border every sane person wept for the dead and the bereaved, America of course went further and wanted vengeance like some Old Testament prophet. No Justice or Compassion was to be shown, Someone should be jailed or executed or both. As the saying goes, An Eye for and Eye leads to a blind World, a world which sees, if it sees at all, the whole planet as a cruel and violent place, full of cruel and violent people. But, if humans are to survive on this small planet then we must aspire to higher standards of truth and compassion, not double speak, double agents, deals behind closed doors and only justice at gun point paid for by the latest corporation. True power can exercise itself through grace rather than violence and it is this which the super-powers should practice rather than just preach about. Scotland has tried to do this and they are to be congratulated for doing so.


Here in the UK we are perhaps much more acquainted with senseless and bloody terrorism than the USA. For one example out of many thousands, lets look at the Birmingham Pub Bombs from the 70's On November 21, 1974 two bombs exploded which killed 21 people and injured 182.^[The devices were placed in two central Birmingham pubs: the Mulberry Bush, at the foot of the Rotunda, and the Tavern in the Town, a basement pub on New Street (now renamed the Yard of Ale). A man with an Irish accent telephoned the Birmingham Post newspaper and said that there was a bomb in the 25 storey Rotunda office block housing the Mulberry Bush pub. Police went to the Rotunda to investigate. The police started to check the upper floors of the building but failed to clear the crowded pub which was situated at street level. Just minutes later, at 20:17, the bomb exploded, devastating the crowded bar. Warnings had just reached the equally crowded Tavern in the Town pub nearby,^[1] when at 20:27 a second bomb there exploded. A passing West Midlands PTE bus was caught in the blast and subsequently written-off. A third device, outside a branch of Barclays Bank on Hagley Road, failed to detonate.


Not surprisingly there was much grief and anger. I know, I was iI was orking in Birmingham the following night and the fear was tangible. Spurred on by a rabble rousing press the hunt was on for anyone with an Irish accent. This was the only description really necessary. Random beatings of Irish locals took place and the police arrested and of course beat up several suspects themselves. Six men were immediately accused of carrying out the attack; they were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. They all spent 16 years behind bars, before their convictions were overturned only after the scientific evidence was discredited, and the documents setting out the confessions were found to be unreliable due to police tampering (i.e., the police wrote the "confessions" that the men signed after several days of torture). They were all released from prison after the ruling by the Court of Appeal on 14 March 1991.


Someone had planted the bombs and therefore someone (anyone) should be punished for ever and ever amen. Its a terrible thing to be guilty of being a foreigner, especially an Arab, Black or Irish one and therefore deened automatically guilty of whatever happens to be the problem. this bombing was just one of thousands of atrocities carried out by the IRA and the Loyalists factions who fought tooth an nail on first the streets of Ulster and eventually on the streets of mainland Britain. Tens of thousands were killed, and maimed and the emotional wounds have still not healed. Perhaps this is the time to explain that most of the explosives, guns and ammo was paid for with money collected in the USA from sympathetic groups of Irish descent. and much of the weaponry, ammo and explosives was purchased from Libya. Only after the 911 attacks in the USA did the majority of the American people discover what it was like to be on the receiving end of thiss kind of terrorism and fortunatelly much of the funding dried up.

It is just possible that that Megrahi. was in some way responsible, or at least connected to state terrorism but this was never proved satisfactorily and much evidence was never produced. Perhpas he was at some time employed by Libya, or maybe Iran or even Syria. Maybe he was just a patsy, framed for political advantage and fours. Or maybe he was just the man in the wrong place at the wrong time. But he has consistently protested his innocence from the beginning and still does even now after his release.

So, Mr President, please stop for a few minutes and think about six innocent Irish men who spent more than 25 years behind bars for no other reason than being Irish and living in Birmingham UK. and about countless others in the USA, Iraq, Afghanistan etc who have been arrested, tortured, renditioned (*sic) and killed for being Iraqi, Afghani, black or maybe just coming from somewhere which still has oil etc etc. And leets not forget the unknown thousands killed and injured by the assorted "Black Ops" carried out by the West. What do you want, Mr President, a world with its eyes open and hearts full of compassion desirous of a better future or a blind world full of hate and revenge and terror. ie; Bush thirde term. as a good starting point, please call off Judge Dread aka Mr Mueller at the FBI who seems to wish to out do the CIA and remember, if you are a religious man, "Let him who hath not sinned, cast the first stone!"

PORTIA:

The quality of mercy is not strain'd,
It droppeth, as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice bless'd;
It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes:(190)
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;(195)
But mercy is above this sceptred sway,
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God's
When mercy seasons justice.

PIRATE PARTY LAUNCHES IN THE UK

The Pirate Party UK

The world is changing. The Pirate Party understands that the law needs to change to match the realities of life in the 21st century.

We have 3 core policies:

• Reform copyright and patent law. We want to legalise non-commercial file sharing and reduce the excessive length of copyright protection, while ensuring that when creative works are sold, it's the artists who benefit, not monopoly rights holders. We want a patent system that doesn't stifle innovation or make life saving drugs so expensive that patients die.

• End the excessive surveillance, profiling, tracking and monitoring of innocent people by Government and big businesses.

• Ensure that everyone has real freedom of speech and real freedom to enjoy and participate in our shared culture.

In recent years we have seen an unprecedented onslaught on the rights of the individual. We are treated like criminals when we share entertainment digitally, even though this is just the modern equivalent of lending a book or a DVD to a friend. We look on helpless as our culture and heritage, so important for binding our society together, is eroded and privatised.

Now there is a democratic alternative. We, the people, can take back our rights. We, the people, can overturn the fat cats and the corrupt MPs who hold our nation's cultural treasures to ransom, ignore our democratic wishes and undermine our civil liberties.

The internet has turned our world into a global village. Ideas can be shared at incredible speed, and at negligible cost. The benefits are plain to see, but as a result, many vested interests are threatened. The old guard works hard to preserve their power and their privilege, so we must work hard for our freedom. The Pirate Party offers an alternative to the last century's struggles between political left and political right. We are open to anyone and everyone who wants to live in a fair and open society.

Following on from the wildfire success of our sister parties in other countries, the Pirate Party UK offers a new way to tackle society's problems, by releasing the potential of ideas, at the expense of corporate monopolies and the interests of a controlling state.

Outdated laws must change, and will change. The only question is when will we change them. Join our cause, and help make this change happen now!

Success or failure will depend upon how many people join this party and of course on how many of those actually get active. In the real world of politics (which actually sounds like an oxymoron), even a petition with a million names on it only counts as one letter so its the number of individual letters which really count.

ID CARDS IN MANCHESTER, NO THANKS!

+ Insecurity in the Home Office +

This week the Daily Mail reported that the biometric residence visa card
that the Home Office brands as the "ID card for foreigners" could be
cloned in 12 minutes using a standard mobile phone, a laptop, and some
freely available software.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1204641/New-ID-cards-supposed-unforgeable--took-expert-12-minutes-clone-programme-false-data.html

The experts were then able to alter the data on the cloned card (the
original being unharmed and unaltered in any way) - and re-sign it to
appear genuine to a standard card reader. Our thanks to the NO2ID
volunteer (who must stay anonymous) whose residence card was used for
this demonstration.

The Home Office response to this was a classic of misdirection: They
denied something that hadn't happened (altering the original card) was
possible; then they tried to imply that if anything had happened it
couldn't do so in the future because the encryption on the next
generation of chips - none of which will be issued for a couple of years
- can't be broken that way. The ID cards to be issued to volunteers in
Manchester within the year (it is said) fall somewhere in the gap
between those denials.

The truth is, just as with e-Passports, that there is a fundamental
conflict between the official convenience of having databases and
smartcards that collate and share our personal information
automatically, and the privacy and the security of the individual. The
system is designed to give personal information to the authorities. So
when it does so to other people, whoever they may be, it is only doing
what it was designed for.

The demand that people identify themselves officially at every turn
doesn't just create insecurity. It is actually a sign of insecurity.
Unless the Home Office can know what we are up to, it fears we may be
out of control. Your privacy and your individual security do not count
in the pursuit of that sort of "security".

When some cards *have* been issued we will be eager to repeat the
demonstration for anyone who believes in the scheme and who has
volunteered for an ID Card. They are the people who need to appreciate
what handing control of their identity to the Home Office means for them
personally, because for them there will be no way back but scrapping the
scheme completely.

From NO2ID Newsletter No.129‏

HEMP - REDISCOVERING THE WONDER DRUG

SPINELESS LABOUR MPs? -YOU BET THEY ARE

For most of my life i have regarded the Daily Mail as a reactionary, right wing shit stirring rag nut now, when I am certainly old enough to know better I must confess I am beginning to agree with its stance on many issues. The warning signs have been there for a while now. As a life long Private Eye reader I tended to rely on Lord Gnomes organ for for both news and laughs. After all, the Guardian which i grew up to associate with detailed news coverage and balance lost its credibility for me in the 80s when it grassed up a Cruise Missile whistle blower to Inspector Knacker after only a little pressure from the Government. More recently the BBC has lost its credibility following the Kelly affair as it too caved in on a variety of issues, surrendering its independence for the sake of a Guaranteed license fee money supply which the Government has now reneged on.

Today, I read the Mails article on Gary McKinnon, the low grade hacker and Aspergers sufferer whose only real problem was his obsession with UFOs and suspicion of American Military and Governmental cover up. Armed only with a bog standard computer and on a dial up link he apparently managed to access a wide variety of military and Pentagon web sites and computers. Of course his job was made easy because many of them did not even have an active password to protect them. This was far too embarrassing for Uncle Sam, particularly following the 911 attacks and the widespread paranoia so McKinnon has been charged with every offence they could find from causing "tens of thousands of pounds worth of damage to Government defence systems." (this would be most unlikely as all he did was look, he wasn't messing with code) to crapping on the White House Lawn, or so it seemed. What a travesty of justice there is in this world when the McKinnons of this world suffer so yet scumbags like W Bush and Tony Blair walk free.

There is of course a million to one chance that he did stumble on some officially hidden pictures of UFOs which would blow the Yanks out of the water after years of cover ups and conspiracy theories from professional Ufologists, but somehow i think not. I became interested myself in UFOs in the early 70s and read all the books and soaked up all the theories. It quickly became obvious to me that the vast majority of UFOs were actually misperceptions, another large chunk were apparently new Air Force hardware being tested and another large chunk were actually things such as Earthlights. The small number of genuinely mysterious and unexplainable sightings were it seemed to me electro-magnetic in nature. They could move and manouvre at incredible speeds and seemed to have no mass. They were able to leave behind even the fastest and newest US jets and rockets and many though not all, did not even show up on radar.

There are some genuine mysteries even mentioned in the US Air Force official Blue Book investigation and these are always worth reexamination using the latest tech and data. But, the real secret that was kept from the public was not what they were or were not but rather that the Air Force simply did not know, and, having decided that they did not present an immediate threat to national security they decided on a mums the word policy and the UFOs and those who chased them were usually debunked and humiliated, irrespective of their individual reliability and expertise. McKinnon, unlike the flying saucers he sought was comparatively easy to find and therefore a convenient scapegoat for the Americans total computer incompetence.

As many have said of him. He did a valuable service to the USA by exposing the holes in their computer systems big enough to fly a Mother Ship through. Aspergers Syndrome is a disability and to desire to sentence him to decades in the clearly vicious and inhumane penal system is a travesty of Justice.

Many people have campaigned to have McKinnon set free or at least charged with a minimal offence and maybe given help rather than a prison sentence and until recently many MPs apparently agreed and wished to see him not sent sent to the USA where justice costs even more than it does here and is probably completely outside the means of this rather ordinary man. Worst of all is to see this bunch of MPs turn from democratic believers in justice and freedom to a bunch of weak lilly livered cocksuckers and arslickers as soon as the PM, or the Home Sec or the Chief Whip clicked his fingers. What a bunch of shits they are. Possibly to fight McKinnons corner would actually expose them to some real work or principals, all of which is thin on the ground in Westminster nowadays, where the real task is to trouser as much dosh as they can in expenses, or to accept money and privileged from organisations which directly conflict with their offcial positions, like for instance that little lickspittle, Andy Burnham.

As a life-long labour voter i find i can no longer even contemplate voting for any of them with only a handful of noble exceptions. They have let down the Party system which was never in good health anyway, and the rest of the country who believed in democracy. Worst of all they have let down the poorest in our society, the ones who really needed some help and who stayed loyal to Labour through the darkest days of the Thatcher reign. All of this was wasted as the poor, the disabled, the sick and the elderly were sold down the river. Shame on Tony B Liar, Gordon Brown and the rest of the rag-bag or opportunists and bottom feeders.

I only wish i had met Gary McKinnon some years ago, possibly i would have been able to divert him from flying saucers and conspiracies to some genuine leading edge research into EM phenomena like the Meadon Vortex, or Plasma. Perhaps i could have give him a copy of John Keele's excellent book, "Operation Trojan Horse" which explains the whole gamut of UFOs, and other varied occult phenomenon in a very readable yet concise fashion. It could save you and many others on this path a lot of time and brain cells.

SLOW FOOD INTERNATIONAL

Slow Food is a non-profit, eco-gastronomic member-supported organization that was founded in 1989 to counteract fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world.To do that, Slow Food brings together pleasure and responsibility, and makes them inseparable.Today, we have over 100,000 members in 132 countries.

OH WHAT AN UGLY WAR!

I was one of the many millions in this country who opposed the Iraq war and of course the Afghanistan war. I was never convinced that Sadam Hussein was more than a minor irritant. Vicious, brutal and power mad he may have been but he was only ever in the second division when it came to dictators and despite his many faults, many of the Iraqi people liked him. His kind of "strong leadership" is popular in much of the Middle East or at least they often profess to do so. And anyway, lets not forget, he was the West's boy. We put him there, we armed him and kept him there. When he went to war against Iran he used weapons of mass destruction that we in the West had provided against Iran. Little wonder that there is such suspicion of the current motives of the UK by the Iranian leader, the Man inna dinner jacket. Tens of thousands of Iranians were killed by weapons supplied by the USA and Britain.

I have never perceived any real Glory in war. Death, mutilation, starvation, refugees, innocent bystanders, cruelty humiliation and torture for sure, but no glory and as usual, the first victim of the war was truth. And if ever lies were a weapon of mass destruction then Tony B Liar was the very effective delivery system. We all saw him posturing in Parliement, then posturing with W Bush and even eventually, posturing and posing for photo ops with "our brave boys" out in Iraq. For me and many others this was the final straw from Blair. He had let down the Labour party and all those who remained loyal during the lean times the Beast Thatcher, then when in power he had let down all those who had voted for him, making the mistake that this time, this politician would be different. Alas it was not to be, he carried on with Thatchers policies of privatisation and market freedom, and paid only lip service to the Environment. Talk is cheap and never cheaper than when he lied in order to go to war to help his Champanzee friend Bush.

Now before you get the wrong idea about me, i must stress that i am not a Peacenik. I have had several soldier friends and i have always respected them for their courage and the difficult choices they made. I believe that we should have an Army because who else would defend us if we were attacked or threatened. Certainly not the likes of Bush unless we had oil of course. And if we have an army, we should train them well in peacekeeping as well as warmaking. We should clothe and equip them to the highest standerd possible and we should not send them into danger for trivial reasons.

Sadly we have let them down, or at least the likes of Blair and Brown have let them down. We sent them into battle in Iraq for no reason other than a pack of lies and exaggerations. We skimped on body armour and all kinds of weaponry. We over stretched them individually and regimentally. We expected miracles when we knew they were only flesh and blood. We sent them against an invisible enemy, strong and secure in its own territory and then feighned shock and surprise when they were injured and killed in their hundreds. Shame on you Blair the warmonger and Brown the apologist

You cannot win a war against a people who you have invaded and overun even when people are killed by the hundreds of thousands. Sooner or later they will repay the complement and gain strenghth and allies who will join them in their hatred and quest for vengeance. Bush and Blair and their ilk have made the USA and the UK hated in the middle east and lowered our reputation in many other parts of the world and made us a target. And all for the sake of oil which does not belong to us.

It would be nice to think that now we and the Americans are leaving Iraq, the country could get back to normal but I have my doubts. And now that are concentrating all our force on Afghanistan we will only compound our mistakes. Britain tried long ago to subdue Afghanistan and despite our power and weaponry we failed abysmally. Even the monster that is or at least was the Russian Red Army, the biggest military power in the world could not bring them to heal. How can we in the UK or the USA think that we have the secret which the previous invaders lacked? How can we think that we can ever really win? Its time to get out now, not next year but now.

BAD PHORM

An email from my Leeds correspondent alerts me to a morsel of good news as published on the BBC News Web Site. UK internet service provider TalkTalk has pulled the plug on its agreement with online behaviour tracking firm Phorm.
It follows news earlier in the week that BT had no immediate plans to use the service.

Phorm has developed technology which collects information on web use in order to better target adverts but it has proved extremely controversial.
The loss of its key partners saw Phorm's shares tumble by more than 50%.
TalkTalk's plans were not as advanced as BT which had undertaken three trials of the technology.

"The directors note that this relationship had not extended to any form of trial in contrast to BT and some international internet service providers," a statement from Phorm read. It also noted that "privacy was not a factor" in BT's decision to pull the plug on the technology. (Yeah Right!)

Surprise surprise, Virgin Media, which also expressed interest in the system, was still reviewing it, according to Phorm. Phorm is also currently trialling its software with South Korea's largest ISP and is in discussion about the use of the technology with ISPs in 15 other countries.

I first came across this outfit a couple of years back when BBC's "You and Yours" carried an item about them and their activities. There was much concern amongst some journalists and technorati that although this info gathering technology was theoretically anonymous, it could actually be used to gather much more than merely marketing info. As if we needed any more surveillance in this septic isle.

As i was just switching from the rapidly sinking AOL to BT i was concerned that I was literally leaping from the frying pan into the fire. I contacted BT by phone and spoke to a few of their staff, none of whome claimed to know anything about Phorm or its activities. I did warn them that if they went ahead with plans to use it for info gathering it would be Sayanora from me and probably many more of its customers. They of course promised to get back to me but never did. (Bad Buggers, BT),

I can only surmise that their plans were greeted by much opprobrium amongst their customers and that this outweighed the perceived beneifts. No doubt it would have course also fallen fowl of the Credit Crunch as BTs plans to dump 10% of its staff this year confirms. A funny name Phorm, seems that they have left the F Off, and glad I am that they did.

MORE SPIN ABOUT ID CARDS, VOLUNTARY MEANS YOU WILL HAVE TO HAVE ONE

The ID scheme has NOT been shelved, cancelled, or even significantly changed ** Once more government spin has triumphed and much of the media has got it wrong. The new Home Secretary Alan Johnson has not made any significant changes to the scheme. Compulsion by stealth is still the order of theday, just as it always was. Someone joining the ID scheme 'voluntarily' will still be placing control of their identity in the hands of the IPS for life. The Home Office line remains the same.

No compulsion (as the Home Office defines it) was going to be applied until almost everyone had 'volunteered' and then it was only a matter of rounding up a minority of resisters and marginalised people. The Home Office's idea of "voluntary" is not the same as yours and mine. Since 2004 the scheme was (and it still is) to proceed by "designating" one-by-one under the Identity Cards Act 2006 other documents issued byofficial bodies -- in the first place passports.

Once a document has been designated, you won't be able to apply for one without also applying to be entered, for life, on the national identity register. If you don't agree to be registered it won't be that you are refused (say) a passport; you'd have voluntarily decided not to apply. There's no compulsion to have a passport. It is useful for travelling. But you aren't compelled to travel. Or (say) to drive. Or to work as a security guard. Or with children. Or in healthcare. To get parole from prison. To practice as a lawyer. ...Any official licence, registration certificate or permit can be designated, and -- in the home office's skewed logic -- handing control of your identity to the Home Office's Identity and Passport Service will still be entirely voluntary.

That they were due for a confrontation with the air side worker's unions over designating new passes at Manchester and City Airports is an illustration of just how voluntary "voluntary" really is. But the fact they have now ducked that fight for political convenience suggests saying no does work - if you say it loudly enough. ---

It is still not too late for MPs to derail the scheme by repudiating theregulations due to be debated next week and detailed in the last newsletter. Only one of those statutory instruments has been dropped. If you have not done so already, please contact your MP: http://www.writetothem.com

(NO2ID's lobbying guide, written for us by the former assistant of avery distinguished retired minister, is brusque but absolutely to the point: http://www.no2id.net/downloads/print/NO2ID-HowtoLobby.pdf ) Peers will also have a vote on this; so if you happen to know one (or be one), then it would be a good idea to alert friends in the Lords nowthat the matter is soon to come up.

GOVERNMENT THUGGERY VERSUS COMPASSION -- NO CONTEST

It's not every day, and in fact very seldom indeed that i find myself agreeing with Ann Widdicombe. But today was the exception to the rule. She took exception to the fact that Ronnie Biggs, now 79, in very poor health and unlikely to see many more summers, will not be paroled despite a recommendations from the Parole Board that he should be. Biggs, who is suffering from pneumonia after breaking his hip in a fall, said that "they would seek a judicial review of the Justice Secretary’s decision as soon as possible. " Biggs, who will be 80 next month, has suffered a series of strokes and is unable to speak. He communicates through gestures and by spelling out words with an alphabet board. He is fed through a tube in the stomach and can walk only a few steps unaided.

Mr Straw wrote yesterday to Giovanni di Stefano, who represents Biggs, setting out his reasons for rejecting the parole board's recommendation that Biggs be released. Whitehall sources said that it was unusual for a minister to refuse to accept a parole board’s recommendations for a prisoner serving a fixed term. Mr di Stefano was shocked by the decision. “All the preparations were in place for him to be released,” Mr di Stefano said. “It is a cruel and unusual punishment for him not to be released. Mr Biggs legitimately expected that the parole board’s recommendations would be adhered to.”Straw’s decision was also criticised by a probation leader, the former Prisons Minister Ann Widdecombe, and prison reformers. Harry Fletcher, assistant general secretary of the probation officers’ union, said: “It’s difficult to see how he poses a threat to anyone apart from politicians.”


Ms Widdecombe said: “The prisons are bursting at the seams. The courts are being urged to let burglars go free, but one fairly doddery and very frail old man is being kept in prison. If you have got a prison place, for goodness sake use it to lock up someone who is genuinely a risk to the public.”

I would suggest a few names from this Government who are a greater risk to the public than Ronnie Biggs and Jack "Judge Dread Straw is certainly one of them. Ten years back, i was smuggled into the opening ceremony of the M65 motorway by TV journalists. I was an anti-motorway campaigner and no doubt the TV boys thought that the several hundred police lining the motorway was a grave threat to both the Peach and Jock Strop and hoped that a veteren Greem campaigner would at least add a little balance to what would otherwise be a gungh ho Petrol Fest led by Jack.

I waited patiently till jack had delivered the usual speech about how the motorway would would bring jobs and inward investment and then had the temerity to ask our Jack a question. Before another word could be spoken I was pushed violently to the floor by Government employed thugs. Even the pro-motorway big wigs in the audience were shocked by this and some of them came to my aid when i squared up to my assailents.

The Blair Government had just been elected for its first term and i told the assembled journos that this was a worrying portent of what New Labour would bring. Until that time, in all my years of Green campaigning i had never once experienced any violence from the police or anyone else, even during the Thatcher years.

Not for one moment would i condone robbing trains or using violence but stepping back and looking at the bigger pictures, i see a government and its corporate cronies who have stolen vast sums from both the private and public purse and then come back for more. Even so i at least thought the death sentence had been abolished in this country, that was until Blair and Straw released their Rottweilers.

NOW ITS A HANDBRAKE TURN ON ID CARDS

I used to believe that Gordon Brown was gung-ho about ID Cards but the news that Alan Johnson, the ex-health minister who is now Home Secretary has done a handbrake turn on them and promised that the Cards would never be compulsory for British people, could indicate that Brown is no longer in control of the Labour party. I must be one of millions who welcome this move but there are still various flies in the ointment.

The DNA database is still on the agenda and when you have a Government that acts on issues it really doesnt understand in a high-handed and far from democratic manner and does frequent U Turns, one can never be sure what they will do next. Perhaps the only sure thing is that whatever they turn too will be repressive, undemocratic, badly crafted and both highly expensive and wasteful. It almost goes without saying that whatever they do, will simply not work.

The latest change on ID cards certainly does not mark a change to a more responsive and benign type of government; they have a long way to go before that could be said of them and probably nowhere near enough time left in office to complete their lamentable agenda. Whatever Brown and his cronies may say publicly, its almost certainly because the credit crunch has robbed them and everyone else of many options. I know from many environmental campaigns in the past that when push came to shove, the big decisions were imposed not as a result of environmental pressure or enlightened and intelligent government but actually by accountants and lawyers.

The people of Britain have never been convinced on the value of ID Cards. They have credit and debit cards, driving licenses and much other parathrenalia which clearly identifies who they are and there is also much resentment at the prospect of having to take an ID card with them even if they are only walking the dog or nipping down to the corner shop. Both the LibDem and Tory opposition parties have opposed ID cards since they were first mooted and even that old authoritarian Winston Churchil abandoned ID cards as soon as World War 11 was over. Even the effects of 911 and the London bombings did not convince people who realised that ID Cards would not tackle either terrorism or ID fraud and indeed might even help promote it.

Before Alan Johnson was awarded this poison chalice, no less than three (count them) home secretaries have failed to progress them. First there was Jock Strap, then Blunkett and of course Fungus Big Ears. Just as one swallow does not make a Spring, three incompetents do not constitute a Home Secretary. The latest nonentity, Johnson is well up to standard it seems.

He's probably very glad indeed to have left the NHS behind. After all, he was confronted with the prospect of cutting £10-15BN off its budget and may yet, and hopefully, have to abandon plans to fluoridate the whole of the UK. Opposition to this useless and dangerous process is growing World wide, not just in the UK and so much that even in Southampton, not noted as a hotbed of militants. he and his Government had to lie through their teeth and bulshit about "consultation" (sic) and with the consent of local people, only to to abandon all pretense of trust and even the democratic process when it became obvious that the people of Southamption were really not that daft. As i write, plans are being drawn up to refuse to pay the water companies for water polluted by fluoride and as the Government cannot actually disconnect the water supply the Government is going to have to find large sums of money to recompense the water companies. Of course the whole process may soon be abandoned because of this and all the logistical problems that they face.

When Andy Burnham was unmasked as a double agent, working for the Government and also Vice Chair of the British Fluoridation Society it probably reduced the total amount of dosh he was trousering. If on the other hand he was only promoting fluoride for a hobby or in his spare time or regarded it as a charitable activity, then I am sure I am not the only one who would like to hear the details. And now that he is Health Minister (please dont laugh it might hurt his feelings) he will no doubt have to find promotional funds out of his own pocket. This at least marks a big improvement as in the past it all seemed to come out of our pockets.

BROWN DOES A U-TURN OVER IRAQ INQUIRY (SORT OF)

So Gordon Brown of You Tube fame is to do a U Turn on the controversial Iraq Inquiry or so it appears unless you read on. It later appears that it will only be partially public. The Prime Minister had originally said that the inquiry would be held in private but, after widespread anger, today opened the way for some of the hearings to be held in public. Decisions on what will actually be public will be made by the Chairman, Lord Chilcott enabling Brown to appear independent of all blame.

Based on past experience however this will mean that important matters such as the amount of toilet paper or ipod downloads will now be fully disclosed whilst trivial matters such as why we had such poor intelleligence about WMDs and why we joined with the Americans entering into this whole debacle will be heard only in private.
Stay tuned for more developments and of course. excuses.

Government Business as Usual? -- I Don't Think So

So the Government of New Labour crisis is over is it? The bad boys and girls of New Labour (and the Tories) have been unmasked by the Telegraph and have left for Heavens knows what and faith in the Leadership of Gordon Brown has been restored. Somehow I don't share this confidence and I know I am not alone. Usually the Phony war comes before the real thing but in the current case it has set in after the expenses and loss of confidence punch up. What is predictable, is the phenomena where the crap floats to the top. Some things do remain eternal.

A good example is that our once proud Cabinet is now reduced to Ant and Dec, alias Alan Johnson and Andy Burnham. The Rats have deserted, and continue to desert the sinking shit taking their brilliant ideas with them. And as the days dwindle down to a precious few along with their polices, very soon, the only surviving policy will soon be fluoride instead of the NHS. Some say its been this way since 2003. But, with the NHS now facing a shortfall of £15BN and major cutbacks coming over the horizon the future looks exceeding bleak.

It makes little difference which Government is elected next year or for that matter for the next twenty odd years. Taxes will have to go up which will dismay the Tories and their supporters and investment in Education, Transport, Health, the Military etc etc, will have to be reduced, in some cases, severely. Vast sums have been dished out to salvage the greedy and incompetent bankers which even Brown admits will remain outstanding till 2032 and many think it will take much longer than this.

Swedish pirates capture EU seat

Sweden's Pirate Party has won a seat in the European Parliament.
The group - which campaigned on reformation of copyright and patent law - secured 7.1% of the Swedish vote.
The result puts the Pirate Party in fifth place, behind the Social Democrats, Greens, Liberals and the Moderate Party.
Rickard Falkvinge, the party leader, told the BBC the win was "gigantic" and that they were now negotiating with four different EU Parliamentary groups.
"Last night, we gained political credibility," said Mr Falkvinge.
"People were not taken in by the establishment and we got political trust from the citizens."

The profile of the Pirate Party and issues surrounding copyright law have dominated headlines in Sweden over the past few months.
Rallying cry. In April, a court in Sweden sentenced the four men behind The Pirate Bay, the world's most high-profile file-sharing website, to a year in jail and ordered them to pay $4.5m (£3m) in damages.
Mr Falkvinge said it had played a significant role in getting them the vote.
Many people just don't see illegal file-sharing as a crime, however hard the media industries try to persuade the public that it's just as bad as shoplifting.

Rory Cellan-JonesBBC technology correspondent
Read dot.life in full
"The establishment is trying to prevent control of knowledge and culture slipping from their grasp.
"When the Pirate Bay got hit, people realised the wolf was outside the front door.
"That happened one month before the ballot opened, so it had quite a rallying effect," he said.
Parties within the European Parliament tend to join one of the big voting blocs, otherwise their MEP can become marginalised.
Mr Falkvinge said they were still considering their position.
"We're looking at four different EU Parliament groups," he said.
"However, we're probably going to join either the Green block or the ALDE group."

The biggest loser in Sweden's election was the eurosceptic June List party, which saw its share of the vote fall by more than 10 points to 3.6% of the vote. The Left Party also saw its vote halved to 5.6%

SOURCE. BBC NEWS

BAD NEWS THEN MORE BAD NEWS

Andy Burnham replaces Alan Johnson.



Now we have all vented our fury at the greed of our MPs we should be grateful that we have disposed of so many of them. A pity that some good Councillors have suffered for no good reason of course but i suppose being in any way related to this nasty allegedly Labour government is good enough reason for most. And lets not forget that this was all made possible by Thatcherism and Reagonomics. The Big Bang in the City of London and deregulation made the Credit Crunch not just possible but probably inevitable. And as Thatcher froze MPs salaries she also freed up the expenses system for MPs; ( a pay rise in disguise as many MPs clearly seemed to think)And as the end of the Thatcher and Major regimes, drew near, it was blindingly obvious that no one was going to re-elect the Tories for a very long time. So what did the Thatcherite Neocons do to get elected. I would suggest that they simply joined the Labour Party, gained the majority position, elected a new Thatcherite leader, Tony B Liar and the rest is history. Tony was not the Bambi they thought but rather Tonasaurus Rex whose gleaming teeth were soon sunk into the soft underbelly of the Welfare State. Single parents, the sick, the disabled, the elderly the unemployed and small brown people with oil were all sitting ducks.As the end of days for New Labour draws nearer, Brown in desperate straights has retrenched and brought together his most loyal (at least for now) henchmen. Chief Fluoridista and Health Minister Alan Johnson is now elevated to Home Secretary. No, please don't laugh, its not funny, its actually all rather tragic and dangerous. Now he can lock us up for opposing fluoridation if he wishes. He already has more than enough laws to use against democracy and New Labour are always ready to pass some more at a moments notice.But surely, Johnson, who appeared to believe that fluoride was actually safe or even helpful, has been replaced by a safe pair of hands in the Department of Health? Sadly no. Step forward Andy Burnham, Minister for Dirty Jobs and original Pusher of Fluoride for Blair in 2003 and since then, such popular and useless measures as ID Cards and DNA databases. Here I will pause till the sobbing dies down and sick bags have been handed out...... OK time's up!Johnson and Burnham are probably the Ant and Dec of the Labour government, a pair of buffoons for sure but not as funny or clever. Even more horrifying is the distinct possibility that Johnson could be the next Prime Minister if Brown finally agrees to go and this may be sooner than we think. Brown may desperately wish to stay in the Job he preyed for so long but Events may yet get the better of him.Labour is now the lowest in the polls that it has ever been and may yet fall lower. The Local Elections have just been disastrous for Brown with the Labour candidates being pushed into third and fourth place. And on this coming Sunday, the omens are not good for them as the results of the European elections are pretty sure to rubbish Labour yet again. Calls for Brown to go will probably increase and some more resignations and defections are probable.Which ever Government assumes power after the next election which could be as soon as this October and certainly no later than next year. They will not have any money to throw around. Rail spending has been cut and eduction and health will also soon come under pressure. Its possible that Fluoride will be dumped as an unnecessary and expensive waste of time. Unfortunately we cannot depend on this so the best thing we can do is step up the pressure. We have to kick the Government whilst it is down, after all this is what they always do to us. The Council Tax comes to mind but i digress.At the same time we have to renew the pressure on prospective candidates for the future Government of whatever party. If candidates do not categorically state they are opposed to fluoride and especially water fluoridation then tell them to their face that you will not vote for them and will recommend to your friends that they do the same. Friends of the Earth have always steered clear of Politics with a capital P and have never recommended that we should vote for anyone, not even the Greens who we are often associated with, but we have never hesitated to Not Recommend those who pollute or exploit the environment. It is bad enough that many of our MPs have been on the make but surely when they desire to pollute and poison us as well, its time for them to go. Say No To Fluoride and those who promote or push it.

DONT WASTE YOUR VOTE - NOT VOTING ELECTS A NUTCASE

So who can we vote for this coming Thursday? The Tories? These are the jokers er... the party that closed down our industry and production, wasted our natural gas and made us dependent on the Russians, and paved the way for the Privitisation of the NHS and everything else not nailed down, and who allowed the banks to get away with all the cash as we now know to our collective and individual cost.

Or maybe you would prefer New Labour in which Tony B Liar smiled and waved and lied and wore Thatchers Knickers as he licked W Bushes bottom and persueded Thatchers policies even further to the right than she did. Despite all the talk of democrasy and even electoral reform in the run up to the 97 election, all this was dropped once Blair had his huge landslide and just like the Thatcher regime, then proceeded to persue arrogant and high handed repressive and undemocratic policies. He Kicked the enemployed, single parents, the disabled: Made the council tax even worse and even buggered it for small businesses via business rates and Health and Safety. Even the old right wing warhorse Winston Churchill abandoned ID cards once the war was over but not B Liar of course for whom the War is never over. New Labour was and is a party of hipocrites and charlatans, greasing their palms and trousering the cash: paranoid and crooked to such an extent that they think everyone else is as bent and dishonest as they are and therefore desirous of more CCTV cams, Biometicr passports, Finger printing of kids, and ID cards you must carry if you are just taking the dog for a walk. Their crowning achievements probably the overturning of Magna Carta and the rendering of the Labour Party as Unelectable for ever and ever Amen. Traitors to those who backed them through thick and thin and traitors to the traditional Labour Party who misguidedly thought the new intake of candidates were supporters when in fact they proved to be Neocons. No, I dont think I can vote for them either.

Of course there is always UKIP and as a man who voted NO in the original referendum on entry into Europe I might be expected to give them a chance, but they are a single issue party with a single mouth piece and anyway, I could not trust them to organise a piss up in a brewery even if I took my own glasses. Despite their big talk about reforming Europe and taking us out, some of their number when given the opportunity merely signed up to the EC gravy train. This leaves only the Real Socialists for whom I do have some sympathy. but in an era when all the newspapers are at leaste a couple of steps to the right of Atilla the Hun and the vast majority of people no longer know the difference between Socialism and Communism they don't really stand a chance. A pity really, imagine the fun we could have with Arthur Scargill in Number 10.

Having looked at all the others, I think I will be voting for the Greens in the Local and European Elections this coming Thursday. We have not had many Green candidates in my part of the world so i will give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they are not telling lies about abandoning all fluoridation and hope that they keep their expenses claims under a close watch. As I said earlier, we cannot vote for the main parties who still believe in First to the Trough so its got to be whatever reasonable alternatives are available and of the smaller parties, the Greens are the only ones who are not out and out nutcases or thugs and who know what sustainability actually means. Hopefully we can go for some form of Proportianal Representation so that all the smaller parties can elect a few members and have some say in the debates. True it may slow down the enactment of laws in some cases but generally people usually find a way of agreeing if the issue is important enough and i think Slow Government is much preferable to Bad Government and surely we have had more than enough of that since the end of World War 2.

the alternative is simply not tenable. not voting at all merely lets in the biggest twat or nutcase as they are always the most determined. Enough loonies seem to get a seat without any help so we should do what we can to whittle them down.