A Tangled Web

2004-11-01T01:08:00.000-08:00

A TANGLED WEB IS MOVING.

No posts today folks - 'cos we're packing up our bags and moving.

After 1o months of ATW on blogger, we've gone and got ourselves a new home.

Blogger has been generally fun but also problematic. The server is frequently down which is really frustrating when we're looking to post stories and the capabilities limited. So it's bye bye to ATW on Blogger - and HELLO to ATW on our new typepad platform. Just click HERE and you will be taken to our new site.

It's still a work in progress - so stick with it as lots of new features are added!

Finally, and I know this is repetitive, but October saw us record new levels of visitors to the site - so thanks once more to one and all.

ATW weblog went live on January 1st 2004 (having previously been atw.co.uk) It's amazing how time has flown in since then, and how many subjects we've covered. Each day the sun comes up - there are fresh topics to engage with, to challenge, maybe even to provoke...a little. So come on over to our new place - we're keen to welcome you!!!

2004-10-31T23:01:00.000-08:00

Important Notice

I'm about to set off for a conference in London and won't be back until tomorrow. Don't forget that from tomorrow, A Tangled Web moves to our new site:

http://atangledweb.typepad.com

Happy blogging!

2004-10-31T05:19:00.000-08:00

Premature Multiplication

When Bobby Darin sang his 1962 song, 'Multiplication' - a tuneful ditty about progeny, I'm sure he didn't imagine children, who were until recently still convinced about the existence of Santa Claus, participating in sexual acts. Today, 42 years on, we live in a society where the amount of unwanted teenage pregnancies coupled with ever-more premature sexual experimentations is nothing other than abhorrent.

On Friday, I read the story about two Blackpool sisters - one 14 and one 15 - who were literally in a race to conceive a child. When the younger of the two became the first 'success story', it generated fits of depression in her elder sibling. As usual, the parents were Fred and Wilma Flintstone look-alikes with adipose midriffs, copious amounts of jewellery, the inability to string two words together and probably possessing IQ's of the same numerics as Toulouse-Lautrec's inside leg measurements. When interviewed for a news article, the mother looked balefully at the camera, saying: 'Well, what can ya do?' A response which caused me to yell at the television: 'What about a bloody good hiding, for starters?'

Human beings have had the same urges at the same ages since the dawn of time. That's only natural. What is different about modern times is the persistently irksome stance taken by the liberal elite that somehow underaged teen sexual habits are something to be contained or encouraged safely, rather than opposed with far tougher penalties. Consequently, we have to read about acts of stupidity such as this, with guaranteed outcomes of more misery for the sexually obsessed numbskulls involved. I appreciate the stance of the Scottish Catholic Church on this matter. I suspect it would be too much to ask for similar condemnation from Anglican liberals.

2004-10-31T03:50:00.000-08:00

There May Be Trouble Ahead

According the to Provisional IRA's favourite Sunday read, Fianna Fail (Sinn Fein/IRA without the weapons) is set to allow membership for people resident in Northern Ireland. It could set the scene for the foray of Southern nationalism into British politics - either through a Faustian pact with the SDLP, or as a supplanting party structure.

If precedent is anything to go by, I shouldn't be all that concerned. Look at how the secondment regulations for Southern participation in the PSNI were hailed as an advancement towards the jaundiced Utopia of all-Ireland interlocking institutional structures. To-date, 24 citizens from the Republic serve in a force of 7,000 strong. Hardly ground-breaking is it?

Northern nationalists have decided to choose murderers and fascists for their political representatives. I honestly cannot see how the encroachment of Bertie's disciples will seriously affect the situation. A party operating within the boundaries of the United Kingdom will gradually becomes accustomed to British-oriented politics unless, of course, Fianna Fail chooses to leech the Queen's shilling whilst boycotting Westminster. In that case, the Mother of Parliaments would be spared the putrescence of both strands of Irish nationalism. Ah bliss!!!

However, there was one sentence in the article which triggered severe annoyance on my part. It was a suggestion from some Fianna Fail nobody about the temporary existence of Northern Ireland!! '"If Northern Ireland is a transitional arrangement, then the SDLP must be a transitional party," said one party member this weekend." ' What is it with idiots like this? Did the Irish so enjoy their last civil war that they wish to engender the conditions for a fresh one!? If 'The Republican Party' is going to stick its hooter in Ulster's politics with views like the above, it's preparing its membership for possibly more trouble than they can handle.

2004-10-31T03:16:00.000-08:00

A BILLION REASONS WHY ARAFAT IS CORRUPT.

The Times has a good article here on just how corrupt Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, is. Apparently he has a cool One Billion dollars salted away for his modest retirement. It is the fate of this loot which prompted his wife to swiftly return from Paris to visit her ailing husband. It's just like Love Story isn't it - and weren't the BBC journalists covering the tale touched by it all?

2004-10-31T03:02:00.000-08:00

VIDEO BECOMES WAR BY OTHER MEANS.

The Taliban scumbags that kidnapped Annetta Flanigan, along with two other UN workers in Kabul last week, have released a video on Al Jazeera TV (the terrorists broadcaster of choice) demanding the usual Jihadi nonsense (release all terrorists, empty Guantanamo Bay, etc). This should be treated with contempt.

All around the world the Jihadi i have all cottoned on to the propaganda value of these video's. They saw the UK media become hysterical over the Bigley videos', and they reckon that the release of a well scripted hostage video has now become war by other means. That is why I believe this video's should NOT be given the sort of wall to wall coverage that is afforded them - until that happens more unfortunate people (EVEN those with Irish passports) will be seen as high value hostage material. Margaret Hassan and Annetta Flanigan are paying the price for the liberal media's crusade against Bush.

2004-10-31T02:58:00.000-08:00

IT'S ARMAGEDDON TIME.

Victor Davis Hanson sums it all up here...this is a key passge;

"When the Islamists behead a tearful Englishman or American, it is more likely that his surviving dad or sibling back home will be on television all over the Middle East within minutes damning Tony Blair or George Bush, without a word of censure for the Dark-Age head-loppers. After all, we are not Nepalese who storm the local mosque and put the fear of God into Islamists when they butcher our own. We are more likely to be frightened, turn on ourselves, and condemn some American somewhere who cannot stop "this."

But cannot our self-induced forbearance vanish as soon as we decide enough is enough? Should the American government ignore the EU hysteria, tell Kofi Annan to worry about his son's crooked shenanigans and not Americans' killing terrorists, and simply take Fallujah — as part of a larger effort to correct the laxity of the past and finish the war — then we would surely win. The fallout would be as salutary as our present restraint is disastrous. Like the murderous Pakistani madrassa zealots who flocked to Tora Bora only to be incinerated, Fallujah would not stand as a mecca for the jihadists, but an Armageddon better to watch on television than die in. "

2004-10-31T02:54:00.000-08:00

WHY AMERICANS SHOULD CARE LESS ABOUT EURO-OPINION.

I liked Denis Boyle's take on the old "Why Europeans don't like Bush" argument.

He suggests that "there is a shiny obverse, which is "Why Americans care less and less."

The commonplace observation is that the end of the Cold War means that the Europeans no longer have to rely on the U.S. for protection, so they can be as self-serving and duplicitous as they wish. But what Americans seem to finally be understanding is that what the end of the Cold War really means is that the U.S. no longer has to give a damn about a European "alliance" at all — especially one dominated by French and Germans. The solution to rampant, hysterical, angry anti-Americanism is cold, practical, systematic anti-Europeanism.

Let the European taxpayers pay for the obese bureaucracy of the EU and a military establishment to go with it. Let's charge them double for DVDs and make them wear native costumes. We can go take pictures of them in their quaint poorhouses. Demographically, economically, intellectually, scientifically, and politically, the EU is a dead-end, a goner before two more cicada cycles in Pennsylvania. The persistent cynicism, corruption, and economic stagnation of the eurozone is only the tip of that particular iceberg. The real crunch will come in a decade or two when pension systems begin to collapse and European nations have to save themselves by importing millions of Islamic immigrants. That process cannot be stopped, unless every European is seized with a sudden and urgent need to reproduce like bunnies."

Amen to that Denis - I fully endorse it. Let them choke on their Euros.

2004-10-31T02:49:00.000-08:00

NO DRAFTS IN THIS HOUSE!

Donald Rumsfeld spells this out for even liberals....

" We have undertaken a range of initiatives to increase the pool of deployable

troops within the Armed Forces and the quality of life for service members and

their families. The result will be that individual troops will be deployed less

often, for shorter periods of time and with more predictability.

With a professional, all-volunteer force, the U.S. military won the Cold War, liberated Afghanistan and Iraq, and has kept the peace in Asia and Europe. And the all-volunteer force will win the global war on terror."

2004-10-31T01:45:00.000-07:00

THE DOCTRINE OF REASONABLE FORCE

By Courthawk.

HERE is an excellent article on burglary and the law by Max Hastings in the Guardian. Court Hawk applauds Max Hastings and his balanced approach to the problem of aggravated burglary and the doctrine of "reasonable force". There will be no need for a free-for-all if the police and the courts do their job. Above all, there is no need for more legislation, just more law and order!

2004-10-31T01:34:00.000-07:00

THE SWISS (BANKER) FAMILY ROBINSON.

I was entertained by the media storm that has grown around DUP MP's Peter and Iris Robinson Westminster expenses. Naturally, Peter is outraged by the very idea that one should dare to question the generous expenses that he and his wife have claimed. Perhaps should he ever become First Minister he will ban such impertinent press intrusions? Mmmmm...

Here's what I think. The media, gutless as it is, has EVERY right to examine EVERY aspect of any MP's expenses. After all, Peter and Iris must accept that since the tax-payer funds them the tax-payer can expect to have every penny satisfactorily explained away. It would be arrogance incarnate if Mr. Robinson thought otherwise - and that would surely not be the case here - would it?

In my limited experience (limited to what I could bear!) the political class are, ny and large, money-grabbing whores who, be they to the left or right (though that classification is almost irrelevant in Northern reland) love money. When you think about it - what other reason have most of them for being in it?

2004-10-30T06:46:00.000-07:00

Paddy versus Sam

Every year around the time of St Patrick's Day I avoid the news as much as possible. I simply can't stand the mass vacation of Irish politicos to America for a wild Saturnalian Mardi gras at the White House. Pseudo-Irish shmucks the length of Uncle Sam consume copious quantities of green-coloured beer, sing 'The Wild Rover' out of tune and march down public thoroughfares brandishing the Tricolour. How revolting!!!

To put 'Irish America' into context, there were approximately 36 million who identified Irish ancestry at the last US Census (not the 40 - 44 million figure so beloved of Irish hacks). When broken down into Protestant or Catholic ancestry, the former is clearly the larger 'community' - around 21 million in total. That means that only 15 million Americans claim Irish Catholic decent (a measly 5.2% of the total population. Thus, all the nonsense about the exceptionally close ties between Ireland and America is just that - nonsense.

Where Europe is concerned, the USA has one relationship first and foremost (albeit one whose primary consideration lies in geopolitical cooperation as opposed to sentimental attachment): that with the United Kingdom. I wonder how many Americans would throw themselves into a fit of wild abandon every March if they were aware of just how much anti-American opinion there was in deal old 'Oireland'. Richard Delevan and Gemma O'Doherty both have excellent pieces on the state of Irish disdain for the United States.

In Delevan's article, he makes a comparison between the essential Left-wing ethos of the broad Irish media, and how their irrational dislike of Bush has manifested itself in the psyche of the Irish population. For my part, I think some of the dislike could even come down to Bush's black and white stance on terror. After all, few countries have a greater experience of harbouring and subliminally supporting terrorism than the Paddies (as we in the United Kingdom well know!!). Delevan concludes his piece by considering leaving the Emerald Isle permanently.

O'Doherty's article revolves around the personal experiences of two US citizens resident in the Irish Republic for the last few years. One, a prominent member of the Republicans Abroad, has suffered particularly unpleasant experiences. "We were getting weird calls, some of them threatening, so we had no choice," says Young, an economist from Arkansas whose wife is Irish.

"Out of 20 American business people living here who are members of our group, 12 are leaving Ireland. The most common reason they cite for going is that they are tired of the bashing. They just don't feel comfortable living here and they're not willing to put up with it any more.

"It seems in Ireland you can say whatever you like about Americans these days and get away with it. If you slotted in the words 'black person' instead of 'American', it would be a different story," Young continues.

To our American friends I say- please remember the words of James Young and Stan Korzeniewski before you venture out on ludicrous sessions so closely associated with St Patrick's Day. The Irish are a broader version of Sinn Fein/IRA when it comes to perceiving Uncle Sam. The country serves its purpose in promoting Irish political agendas, but the rest of that time it is broadly despised. American brethren, please wake up and smell the coffee!! Your celebrations pay homage to a nation which collectively dislikes you and your role in the world. Furthermore, it is a nation where terrorism is very much de rigeueur as evidence by the political growth of IRA proxies.

2004-10-30T05:07:00.000-07:00

ITALIAN SURRENDER (AGAIN)

Italy's controversial European Commission nominee, Rocco Buttiglione, has said he is standing down as commissioner-designate. "I am ready to stand aside to smooth the way for (the) commission," he said. Nice to see that Italy managed to show resistance for at least a few days - nothing new there!

There is something very rotten in Euroland when a man who espouses Christian values has to "stand down" in order for the EU to go forward.

2004-10-30T05:02:00.000-07:00

SO WHAT IS THE ANSWER?

Excellent analysis here on that Bin Laden video speech.

In the end, it's simple. He wants a truce. He wants left alone. Do we grant him his wish or do we blow him and his acolytes to hell? I know what I want - Tuesday will tell us what America wants. I put my confidence in the American people.

2004-10-30T01:59:00.000-07:00

NATALIE SOLENT FOR BUSH!

I liked this quote from fellow-British blogger Natalie Solent;

"Consider me a September 12 gal. On September

12 2001 there was no downside for those planning the next terrorist spectacular. You too can humble the Great Satan and win undying glory! Now there is a downside.

And I thank God - literally thank God - that the guy in the White House who started work on making that downside on September 12 2001 was a sunny-tempered frat boy who is President, at least in part, because his Daddy was. Peter Briffa's column said that professional politicians irritate. That's only half the problem. The other half is that they

are all a particular type of person. Bush is close enough to that type to

function but doesn't really belong. I am aware that he can be a ruthless

political operator. (He can pick 'em, too, a useful skill.) But in important respects his values are more normal than is normal in his milieu.

I will go further. I thank God that Bush is a believing Christian who takes seriously the obligation to love his enemies. He didn't limit himself to making a downside for terrorism, necessary though that

was. (Not that most of his opponents would have done it.) Instead he did what idealists claim to want: he set out to tackle the injustice and oppression that are the root causes of terrorism."

Of course, I agree with her!!

2004-10-30T01:50:00.000-07:00

BIN LADEN COMES OUT FOR KERRY!

Vote Kerry! That appears to be the subtext to Uncle Ossie's latest broadcast to the United States. Bin Laden, back from the grave apparently, makes it clear that US Foreign policy has to change. Only one candidate standing for the office of President provides that change - John Kerry. So, go ahead and make Bin Laden's day - vote for the Talibanic-endorsed French candidate - you know it makes sense.

2004-10-30T01:42:00.000-07:00

THIS IS WHERE THE HOME TRUTH ENDS.

I've been listening to the Radio 4 tribute to John Peel in his "Home Truths" morning slot today. I was touched to discover that one of Peel's favourite songs is also one of mine - "It's Over" by Roy Orbison. I know the lyrics are a tad melodramatic but THAT voice - bittersweet! As the final bars faded, with the last "It's Over" sung, I said a little prayer for Peely. No more to be said.

2004-10-30T00:21:00.000-07:00

The Cheek of Ahern

Foreign political interloper, Bertie Ahern, has resorted to the more traditional Irish method of threatening Unionists because, at this moment in time, they refuse to countenance the abomination of the Provisional IRA back in the corridors of Stormont. A concerted effort has been made by the Irish Government in recent time to try to con us into thinking they had actually changed. Alas, at the end of the day, all they seem to seek is the gradual and progression erosion of the Unionist position. Two weeks ago, Ahern made a speech to the republican ill-bred at Bodenstown - assuring them the destruction of the Union was at the heart of all Irish policy towards Ulster. Now, he issues threats about the termination of Stormont, citing the DUP rather than the fascism of republican terror as the principal stumbling block.

'THE Irish and British governments will pull the plug on efforts to create a power-sharing executive in the North unless the DUP agrees to it within the next month, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern warned last night. '

My contacts in the various Unionist parties have assured me that Irish representation is absent during discussions on internal Northern Ireland matters. I know it's unfortunate we have to tolerate the presence of foreign Dubliners in strands two and three, but there is no such Hibernian adulteration of issues surrounding the resurrection of Stormont. How disingenuous of Ahern to pretend otherwise. Mind you, show me an Irish nationalist with honesty and sincerity and I'll show you a miracle. Now comes Ahern's barely-disguised threat:

"If we can't complete this phase, then we'll go for another phase, but it will be on the basis of partnership, there won't be any divergence," he said.

Bertie, do yourself a favour. Don't use fulminating terms your benighted country hasn't the political clout, the military wherewithal or the financial muscle to make a reality. 'Partnership' implies an equality of input - joint authority. It ain't gonna happen. You know it, I know it!! Don't instil false hopes into the addled brains of northern separatists by pretending it's just around the corner. If you want to threaten the end of devolution, go ahead. Most Unionists wouldn't shed any tears over its demise. However, don't predict what you are incapable of delivering.

2004-10-30T00:19:00.000-07:00

Daylight Saving

This is a reminder to all ATW fans in the UK and the Irish Republic that Summer Time ends tomorrow morning at 2am. Remember to put your clocks BACK one hour.

2004-10-30T00:14:00.000-07:00

Saturday's Marx Quote - 30.10.04

'Ever since they found out that Lassie was a boy, the public has believed the worst about Hollywood. '

2004-10-29T14:04:00.000-07:00

Straw in the Wind

Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw has promised Britain's voters the opportunity to vote on the EU Constitution signed today in Rome by our esteemed autocrat, Tony Blair.

Please forgive me if I don't jump for joy around the room or shout my expostulations of exaltation across the moors. I remain more than a tad sceptical about the intentions this nefarious crowd will use to try to browbeat the electorate into endorsing a document that, whatever propagandistic gloss is put over to the people, the supposedly nebulous powers incorporated into this constitution are actually anything but!

A fundamental difference between previous treaties (however objectionable they were) and the new constitution lies in the long-term ramifications for the ability of Parliament to remain the identifiable sovereign body for the United Kingdom. Independence of sovereign integrity is sacred to all nations. When Germany violated Belgium's independence in 1914, it helped to precipitate the First World War. When the EOKA movement and the machinations of Makarios in Cyprus undermined the tripartite agreement guaranteeing the status of the island as an independent entity, it brought about the Turkish invasion of 1974. In most parts of the world the moves towards cooperative coalescence mean a closer degree of collaboration in areas such as trade and the environment; they do not mean the progressive encroachment of pan-national inteference into sacred tenets of sovereignty. The European Union is the exception, and an exception increasingly rejected by the peoples over which it is supposed to rule.

Let the British nation beware. If the government tries to manipulate the electorate with comparable thinly-veiled threats and lies employed in the vote on the Belfast Agreement, we will be in for a hard struggle. Nonetheless, I possess considerable faith in my fellow Britons to reject this document when they are presented with the opportunity to do so.

2004-10-29T10:49:00.000-07:00

Feeney Watch - 29.10.04

I thought Bigoted Bri had gone off the boil so to speak on the last couple of occasions. Still, he's back with a vengeance this week. Just when I suspected his penchant for obnoxiousness and vacuous argument had taken a tumble, he has managed to re-kindle my faith in his mordant journalism.

His most recent submission to the separatists' little green book is a re-hash of the 'victory through demography' argument resurrected with ridiculous frequency throughout the 1990's. I remember BB being at the vanguard of the 'Catholic fecundity' school of thought. Of course, when the census figures demonstrably refuted the prospect of significant populations changes, I expected BB's cavernous gob to fall silent on the issue. But no, he re-visits what must surely now be a rather tiresome discourse - this time as a consequence of proposed changes to local government in Ulster. As his submission thoroughly warrants a blow-by-blow rebuttal, it's exactly what I'm going to provide.

'UTV managed to get its hands on the most plausible proposals, not only for the number of councils but also for new boundaries: Belfast and Derry with five others.

A helluva drop from 26, but long overdue.

The only reason for 26 was because originally the Unionists had established 73 – honestly – to ensure they had an iron grip on every parish pump in the north. The other reason for the ridiculous number was to create the impression that the north was a state requiring a vast system of local infrastructure, whereas of course it's smaller than Greater Manchester with fewer people than Manchester itself. '

First off, the proposed changes to Belfast City Council would not involve leaving the ridiculously gerrymandered boundaries which exist at present. Most of the Protestant hinterlands of the city's suburbs are trapped inside Newtownabbey and Castlereagh district councils; a situation almost certain to change if the number of local authorities are reduced. This bullshit about Belfast being a nationalist city has done the rounds that bit too often over the years. The current city boundaries are laughable, a throwback to the early 20th Century when they came into existence. If BB wants to discuss 'gerrymandering' maybe he should start with a tangible example, instead of resorting to legend.

Secondly, Greater Manchester ceased to exist as a metropolitan county under the local government changes of 1986. It formally lost its county status under a similar Act which brought in unitary authorities ten years later. Manchester (the city) suffers from the same restrictive boundaries as its British cousin across the North Channel. The administrative city boundaries contain a population of approximately 480,000. The suburbs (Irlam, Prestwich, Sale, Urmston, etc.) add around 200,000 more. I know maths was never my strong point, but 680,000 is considerably less than the 1,700,000 now residing in Northern Ireland.

'The fact that only one Unionist MP is based west of the Bann reveals the stark reality that there is a clear Unionist majority in only two counties of the six.'

Antrim and Down do indeed have strong Unionist majorities. They also contain 2/3 of Northern Ireland's population. Londonderry county (excluding the city) has a Unionist majority, and Co. Armagh is approximately 50/50. If only two counties have a CLEAR Unionist majority, it's also safe to presume that only two counties have a CLEAR Catholic (not necessarily 'nationalist') majority.

'Boundaries are one thing, but there has to be legislation which will force Unionists to behave themselves in the small number of councils they can still disgrace, a law to require all councils to use the d'Hondt system to elect leaders and committee chairs.'

Bigoted Bri's 'Big Bad Unionist' line is an absolute hoot!! As if nationalist-dominated councils are not up the their eyeballs in chicanery!! Unionist areas in Londonderry have been starved of investment whilst their inhabitants have had their noses rubbed in the trough of nationalist hubris by the shameful attempts to change the city's official name. Unionists have not occupied the Chair or Vice Chair on Strabane District Council for eight years; and in Down, no DUP councillors have ever held the position of Chair or Vice Chair. By contrast, SDLP members have held mayoralties in both Coleraine and Lisburn.

What is especially amusing is the sight of nationalists becoming ever-more frustrated at the lack of Unionist acquiescence to their never ending self-indulgence and sense of victimhood. If it doesn't manifest itself in historical inaccuracies and community stereotyping, it raises its ugly head in the calls for joint sovereignty. The biggest boon of all for Unionists is the sheer impracticality and unworkability of joint authority coupled with the death of the Belfast Agreement in its current configuration. No degree of petty codswallop from BB can alter those realities.

2004-10-29T09:55:00.000-07:00

SIR REG SAYS SOMETHING SENSIBLE!

Sir Reg Empey, that most urbane of Ulster Unionists, has said something sensible! Yes - this is the big story of the day folks.

"With the people facing a tidal wave of increased charges for rates and water, and with very little improvement in hospital waiting lists, I do not see how the democratic and financial costs of Stormont can continue to be borne much longer.I want Stormont to work, but equally, if the opportunity is not going to be seized now and acts of completion delivered, then it might be in all our interests to wind things up now before more damage is done. At least that way we might have a chance of a restoration in the future."

Good idea. Let's also dismiss the MLA's and save a fortune. Taxcuts all round.

2004-10-29T09:49:00.000-07:00

WHERE'S THE KERRY APOLOGY?

A U.S. Army officer came forward today and said a team from the 3rd Infantry Division took about 200 tons of explosives from the Al-Qaqaa munitions base soon after Saddam Hussein's regime fell last year. Major Austin Pearson appeared at a Pentagon news conference to say it was his mission to go the facility and clear explosives from the base. He said he did not discover that the International Atomic Energy Agency had reported 377 tons of explosives were missing until Tuesday night and he said he promptly contacted military officials.

So, the question is, why did Kerry "rush to judgement without waiting for the military to offer their side of the story? Is this the sort of man to sit in the Oval Office - a man with such little confidence in the US Army. Time to apologise now Senator Jean Francois?

2004-10-29T09:44:00.000-07:00

DESTROYING THE POINT OF EDUCATION.

I note that the Government is planning to bring in a new system of variable university tuition fees in Northern Ireland to match the scheme already announced for England. Barry Gardiner MP, minister for Employment and Learning, plans to let universities charge up to £3,000 per year, instead of the current £1,150.

This is a scandal. It's not JUST the money, though I think that is bad enough, it's the way in which Labour is going to make damn sure that kids from working-class backgrounds are going to really struggle o get a university education. Massive debts, dumbed down degrees, this is the age of the Philistine. The wanton destruction of our education system by political imbeciles makes me want to WEEP!

2004-10-29T07:25:00.000-07:00

A TANGLED WEB - ANNOUNCEMENT.

This is to advise everyone that A TANGLED WEB will be moving onto a new platform next week - probably November 2nd/3rd. This will enable the site to provide readers with much more than this current blogger platform does. I will provide full details shortly and hope you will find the new site more enjoyable! We're on the move - upwards, and rightwards!!!

2004-10-29T01:11:00.000-07:00

THE EURO TYRANNY COMETH...

Today, that nice Mr. Blair flies out to Rome to sign this United Kingdom up to the European Constitution. The constitutional treaty will be signed in the Campidoglio, Rome’s spectacular town hall designed by Michelangelo, where the Treaty of Rome, which first set the EU in motion, was signed in 1957. Make no mistake, this is a momentous day. This is a launching pad designed to elevate the power hungry European Union way above the nation state. It is a tyranny in motion - since no country has voted for the constitutional treaty that these "Leaders" are arrogantly signing up to. I am sure in many years time, people will look back to Friday 29th October 2004 as the day that democracy in Europe was put on notice. That Blair should sign up to this abomination when the majority of the UK population rejects it makes me wonder how debased the democratic process here has already become - we are in the grasp of a political class which thinks it knows better.

2004-10-29T01:07:00.000-07:00

KERRY OFFERS ARAFAT STYLE HEALTHCARE....

Democrat presidential candidate John Forbes Kerry today unveiled a proposal to provide all Americans with healthcare comparable to that which ailing Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat is now receiving. "I have a plan to offer Arafat-quality healthcare to each and every family," said the professional Vietnam veteran and distinguished war protestor. "But George W. Bush doesn't want you to see my plan, because he doesn't think you deserve to be flown to Paris for the best medical treatment in the world." Read the rest of this at the wonderful Scrappleface!!!

2004-10-29T00:19:00.000-07:00

QUESTION TIME.

Did you see the BBC "Question Time" programme from Miami? What did you think?

I was most impressed by the audience and in particular the many intelligent coherent contributions from the Republicans present. I also thought the panel was good - and even wacko Michael Moore amused me - though not in the way I think he would have wanted. Leaving aside the specific politics, I really liked the PASSION of the audience. They were not prepared to swallow every propagandist point made by whomever on the panel, they cheered and the jeered - quite a contrast from the dull lefty hordes that make up QT UK audiences.

I now know how Richard Littlejohn is - and thought him quite good. David Frum was also articulate though perhaps he tried to be overtly conciliatory in front of a divided audience. Sidney Blumenthal was an oily creep - you can see what Clinton saw in him. Moore was a bumbling oaf - a self-hater, and as we all know, a fantasist. That said, I thought he was polite enough and for that he gets my respect.

An interesting programme!

2004-10-28T23:45:00.000-07:00

LEAVING THE BUNKER.

Dateline: Berlin. 1st May 1945.

Emerging from his bunker, the great Leader looked unwell, gaunt some dared to say. His Doctors moved to reassure his supporters, "The Leader is unwell, this is true, but nothing too serious. We are still conducting investigations, it may be some time before we can be sure of what is wrong it is minor. But you must understand who is responsible for his sickness - it is the Allies. Their random bombing campaign has forced the Leader to live in a small room, with little light, not enough medical supplies, and no opportunity for exercise."

The BBC understands that the Leader will be flown to Paris - a capital city with which he has a special attachment. (and not a few battalions) It will be hard to imagine what Europe would look like if the Leader was gone. He has done so much for his people - restored their pride, and fought for their political dreams of a homeland. Whilst Jews may celebrate (those left alive, that is) sophisticated Europeans are praying the Leader survives his ordeal. The lights are going out across Europe.........

2004-10-28T14:15:00.000-07:00

FRENCH FARCE.

France will be always on the side of the Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat, French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier has declared

“France....will be always on your side to back your effort in favor of a just and negotiated peace,” Barnier said. “It is with concern and sympathy that I keep informed of the development of your health,” said Barnier. “I wish to express my most sincere wishes for your recovery, hoping that you can return rapidly to your place to lead the Palestinian Authority,” he said.

What a bunch of degenerates the French political elite really are. Cosying up to the arch-terrorist Arafat with a knowing look in their eyes, prostituting their once proud nation. No wonder Jews are getting out of France.

Thanks to Litte Green Footballs.

2004-10-28T13:38:00.000-07:00

BBC Sickness!

Did anybody listen to the phone-in vote on BBC Radio Five Live this afternoon? I have to ask because the presenter, Simon Mayo decided to launch a straw poll on how listeners would vote had they the chance to do so in the US election. Quite naturally the response was overwhelmingly in Kerry's favour (with the exception of two callers - one in Suffolk and one in Belfast).

Not wanting the programme to turn into a hagiographic endorsement of the capricious JFK, I took the option of phoning in myself to provide some balance. If readers have attempted to contact these kind of shows in the past, they will know that their call is answered by an intermediary who ascertains the tone and content of the contribution before passing it on to the presenter for analysis and possible on-air conversation. Below is a near verbatim account of the conversation I held with just such an intermediary. I hope it provides a snapshot of the degree to which the BBC has totally lost the plot when it comes to impartial examination of the respective presidential candidates. My responses are in red.

'BBC Radio Five Live, may I take your name please?'

'Yes, it's Andrew calling from Halifax.'

'And what would you like to say, Andrew?'

'I'd like to cast my vote for George W Bush.'

'Oh, and why's that?'

'Because I believe he is a man of principle who has the determination to see the justifiable war on terror reach a successful conclusion. I admire his stoic sense of leadership, his Christian beliefs and his honesty in his dealings with the Ameri............'

'Hold on. He lied about the mythical weapons of mass destruction.'

'No he didn't. He made use of the intelligence available to him at the time.'

'But there were no weapons of mass destruction.'

'In the conventional sense, there were no assembled weapons of mass destruction. However, there is plenty of evidence of all the necessary ingredients in place to devise future weapons programmes had he intended to do so. Also, don't forget about the tacit links formed between his junta and Al Queda.'

(Contemptuous snort) 'Not on any news bulletins I've ever seen.'

'Must have been looking at the wrong news bulletins then, musn't you? Or perhaps you have been indoctrinated by the expurgated selectivity which passes for news within your organisation.'

(An air of annoyance) 'What are you trying to say?'

'I'm not trying to say anything. I am saying the BBC never misses an opportunity to present Bush in a negative light. At the end of the day, this so-called 'esteemed' broadcasting corporation is fundamentally anti-Bush, and anti-Israel into the bargain.'

'Well (voice level rising) what about the rapid decline in the American economy since he took over?'

'Do you mean the economy which has enjoyed reasonably steady growth throughout his presidency? The same economy that was on the slide at the end of the Clinton era?

(Guffaw) 'Huh, the share of national debt has grown under this guy.'

'The share of national debt has also increased under New Labour. Hasn't stopped the economy from growing though.'

'Well, I'll put your comments through and we'll see if we can get you on air' (intonation of insincerity).

Needless to say I wasn't given a platform to elaborate on my support for 'Dubya'. Never mind, the liberal Lefties at the BBC will be crying into their Guardian newspapers come next Wednesday. I can hardly wait!!

2004-10-28T13:31:00.000-07:00

POPPIES BANNED.

Here's an unbelievable tale.

"A traditional shower of poppies planned for a Remembrance Day service in Sandwell has had to be scrapped because of Health and Safety regulations. In previous years thousands of paper poppy petals have been released during the minute's silence at the packed event in West Bromwich town hall. But the emotional tribute which has been part of the annual service since before the Second World War has now been banned. Fire inspectors who visited the venue in the town High Street said the practice breached health and safety regulations. They believe the paper poppy petals would be a fire hazard."

What do you say? Is this why tens of thousands laid down their lives - so some third rate half witted jobsworths - from the public sector, of course - could BAN acts of remembrance lest paper poppys cause a blazing inferno in Sandwell high street???????

With thanks to An Englishman's Castle.

2004-10-28T13:25:00.000-07:00

THE BIG FAILURE.

What is a big failure? The European Union's attempt to become the world's most competitive economy. According to Romani Prodi. So, why do we wish to part of this "big failure" ? Details here.

2004-10-28T11:28:00.000-07:00

KILLING TIME.

"They say that Arafat is sick, that he has cancer, that his days are numbered. If this is correct, then our time is running out. Our time? Yes! Our great window of opportunity, to kill Arafat and re-conquer justice, is closing." Moshe Feiglin on IsraelInsider has an interesting take on the breaking Arafat story.

Also, Steven Plaut has this to say;

"Try to imagine a proposal made in 1945 to take Hitler's carcass and

bury it inside the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, perhaps draped with

flowers, across Lincoln's knees. No, I am afraid even that does not begin

to approach the mindless mega-stupidity of those proposing to allow

Arafat's carcass to be buried on the Temple Mount once it stops breathing.

He concludes,

"If Arafat is interred on Judaism's most holy spot, then why not dig up Hitler's and Eichmann's bones and move them there as well. I mean, come on, let's have a little consistency!

I agree with Feiglin. It is a matter of the most intense shame and humiliation for every Jew on earth that Arafat will die a natural death. The man who most singularly personalized the devotion to genocidal annihilation of Jews and mass murder of Jewsish children was never

targeted by the state pretending that "Never Again" is its raison d'etre. Burying the carcass (am I the only one who suspects the living Arafat is far uglier than how the carcass will look) is simply the most effective way to announce to the world that the Jews have raised their hands in surrender and have given up. They might as well be calling to Palestinians, "Come over and murder us all." All day long Israel's radio and TV bimbos and bimbettes have been

reporting in muted semi-mourning, as if Arafat's demise represents a reason for sorrow. Mark Twain once described false reports of his own demise as premature. Arafat's demise is 40 years much too late. Efraim Inbar had a nice comment. Arafat, after all, is not a Palestinian at all,

but was born in Egypt. Bury him in Cairo. Some of Israel's own greatest Arafatphiles might want to volunteer to be buried alongside His Ugliness."

Quick - call Orla Guerin - we need more BBC balance on this one!

2004-10-28T11:02:00.000-07:00

FROM RICHILL TO KABUL.

Northern Ireland UN worker, Annetta Flanigan, has been kidnapped, most likely by remnants of the Taliban, in Kabal. Along with two other colleagues, she was taken captive earlier today. Let us hope they are all released without any harm coming to them. She holds British-Irish identity - so we have now to witness the likes of Irish Minister Dermot Ahern hogging the media spotlight, wringing his hands and mouthing empty platitudes. As if the Taliban care she may be "Irish"! The sad reality is that when it comes to the Jihadi - you are either WITH them or against them. The UN does not appear to understand this. Neither does dumb Mr. Ahern.

2004-10-28T10:56:00.000-07:00

PIERS MORGAN SPARKS MASS PANIC.

Disgraced former editor of the Daily Mirror - Piers Morgan - caused panic among UK Mid-morning TV viewers today when he claimed al Qu'eda is about to stage a terrorist spectacular. Morgan didn't realise his comments were being broadcast live on air. You can read the details here.

This indicates three things;-

1. Morgan really is a grotesque waste of space - a man with no critical judgement.

2. Some TV viewers are easily panicked.

3. Phillip Scofield is a great talent.

2004-10-28T10:33:00.000-07:00

YASSIR - THAT'S MY BABY!

Having listened to the ever-so-caring UK media coverage of what may prove to be Yasser Arafat's final hours, I now see I have got it wrong about Yasser. The news that he is being flown to France for urgent medical treatment gladdens the heart. France, after all, knows how to deal with tyrants, sorry, I mean... sick political leaders. (I just hope the hospital that treats him isn't near any Synagogues - that can be such a danger)

There was me thinking that Arafat was a vile corrupt murderous old anti-Semite, a man who gloried in killing Jews, a man who has blood of thousands on his hands. I was wrong. Based on the reporting of genuinely talented reporters such as Orla Guerin, I see that Yasser is a kindly man, a family man, and an inspiration to all. No wonder we are now all so...anxious.

It makes such sense. I sincerely expect the BBC to break into solemn funeral music should Nobel Laureate Yasser die - with mass mourning obligatory in the streets. Maybe Elton John could do the music at the funeral?

2004-10-28T06:44:00.000-07:00

COKE DEALER WON'T HAVE HIS OATS!

Get this. A man accused of involvement with the largest haul of cocaine ever seized by Northern Ireland police has gone on hunger strike in jail - because he doesn't like the food!

William Andrew Askin is currently on remand at Maghaberry Prison after being arrested following the seizure of more than £1m-worth of cocaine in west Belfast.

Here's a thought - let him STARVE! If he kills himself it will be his choice - why should the tax-payer fund the Cordon Bleu preferences of this alleged drug dealer?

2004-10-28T02:51:00.000-07:00

A LITTLE MORE DETAIL ON THOSE "LOST" WEAPONS!

Tech Central Station provides some good detail on the now discredited claims of the Kerry camp and their media allies about the so-called "lost weapons."

"Jim Miklaszewski of NBC News reported Monday night that his network was right there, on the spot, when the 101st Airborne got to the installation south of Iraq's capital on April 10, 2003. "But these troops never found the nearly 380 tons of some of the most powerful conventional explosives called HMX and RDX" said Miklaszewski.

Then on Tuesday Miklaszewski provided more details. He reported that the 101st airborne troops "were not actively involved in the search for any weapons" and that, given the size of the Al Qaqaa facility, it's unclear if the 101st was "near the bunkers that reportedly contained the HMX and RDX."

But he went on to say that "in March, shortly before the war began, the [International Atomic Energy Agency] conducted another inspection and … inspectors were unable to inspect the RDX stockpile and could not verify that the RDX was still at the compound." It seems some of the missing materials were moved even before Americans set foot in Iraq - right under the UN's nose! Pentagon officials have speculated that Saddam could have ordered the materials moved before the invasion by coalition forces."

Since these explosives went missing under the UN's noses - shouldn't John Kerry be calling for Kofi Annan to resign and Hans Blix to offer up a full and frank apology?

2004-10-28T02:38:00.000-07:00

NO LINKS BETWEEN SADDAM AND AL QU'EDA.

Really? When we hear leftists trot out that particular lie with monotonous regularity (after all, if the truth does not matter, you can say whatever you want) maybe someone should draw attention to this:-

In a letter sent on Oct. 7, 2002, by the CIA's director to the then-chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Bob Graham, George Tenet wrote:

"We have solid reporting of senior level contacts between Iraq and al Qaeda going back a decade. Credible information indicates that Iraq and al Qaeda have discussed safe haven and reciprocal nonaggression. We have credible reporting that al Qaeda leaders sought contacts in Iraq who could help them acquire weapons of mass destruction capabilities. The reporting also stated that Iraq has provided training to al Qaeda members in the areas of poisons and gases and making conventional bombs."

There are none so blind as those who do not wish to see.

2004-10-28T02:26:00.000-07:00

HALLOWEEN.

Witches with pointy noses and things like that are not respective symbols of the Wiccan religion and so we want to be respectful of that."

Karen Hansen, spokesman for Washington State Puyallup school district on the decision to cancel Halloween celebrations in school.

Gosh - we wouldn't want to offend Wiccans, would we? Or Satanists......or any other wacko group. But when to comes to Christians and Jews...well, that's a different story.

2004-10-28T02:02:00.000-07:00

THE CLINTON RECORD ON TERRORISM.

Neatly summarised by David Warren.

"The Clinton administration had its chance to wake over the first attack on the World Trade Centre in 1993, and chose to look the other way. Egyptian intelligence warned the FBI that Arab terrorists were entering U.S. flight schools after the attempt to fly an airliner into the Eiffel Tower in 1994. The Clintonians looked away after uncovering a plot to bring down 11 airliners over the Pacific in 1995; after Khobar Towers in 1996; after uncovering an Al Qaeda masterplan in Albania in 1997; after the embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998; after attempted terror strikes on the U.S. in 1999; after the USS Cole was hit in 2000. They chose, consistently, the path of least resistance. "

And that, folks, is what John Kerry is offering all these years later.

2004-10-28T01:55:00.000-07:00

RUSSIAN ROULETTE.

Gotcha! Russian special forces moved many of Saddam Hussein's weapons and related goods out of Iraq and into Syria in the weeks before the March 2003 U.S. military operation, The Washington Times has learned.

John A. Shaw, the deputy undersecretary of defense for international technology security, said in an interview that he believes the Russian troops, working with Iraqi intelligence, "almost certainly" removed the high-explosive material that went missing from the Al-Qaqaa facility, south of Baghdad.

When will John Kerry be apologising for his vicious slur on the US Military and the Commander-in-Chief?

2004-10-28T01:45:00.000-07:00

NEW HUMAN SPECIES FOUND - IN NORTHERN IRELAND.

When I heard that scientists had discovered a new species of human, I was excited. Here was confirmation, I felt, that the scientific community had discovered that those unionists who supported the Belfast Agreement - Homo Supinus - were indeed not like the rest of us.

The evidence is clear for all to see - no obvious backbone, a smaller than average brain, and - the evolutionary killer characterstic - an odd desire to celebrate their likely extinction! You can imagine how distressed I was to discover that it was this the scientists were talking about!!

2004-10-28T00:18:00.000-07:00

ANTI RACIST FOLLY.

All the dweebie lefties will be out on parade in a few days letting us all know who much they care for their fellow man at the anti-Racist rally in Belfast. These sort of public demonstrations appal me. It is nothing short of grand standing for the cameras. I don't buy into any of this "deeply concerned" citizenry nonsense. Let's be clear - Racism is wrong. Terrorism is wrong. Many ism's are wrong. But chanting masses at a Halloween carnival-style rally in Belfast do nothing to solve the problem. Do they REALLY think that those who are so intolerant of their fellow man and woman will suddenly see the crowd and have an epiphany? Really???? That's how childish leftist thinking really is.

2004-10-28T00:12:00.000-07:00

THE KEN BIGLEY EXPERIENCE.

Having learnt how to milk UK political opinion for all that it is worth, the Jihadists who captured Margaret Hassan have released another video of the unfortunate woman asking for British troops to be pulled out of Iraq and for Care International, the aid agency she works for, to close its office in Baghdad, and appealed for Iraqi women prisoners to be freed.

This is copycat propagandising - and once more our media and liberal elite swallow it all. The pathetic attempts by the British Government to "negotiate" Ken Bigley's freedom have emboldened the terorists. They have made this event much more likely - and whether Al Zarqawi has the lady concerned or not (and it is hard to know) - the lesson must be NO negotiations with terrorists. That must be tough for a UK Government that boasts of its ability to trade with killers.

2004-10-27T23:07:00.000-07:00

Doherty Rages

Pat Doherty, the Glaswegian disguised as an Irishman, IRA Army Council member and sometime MP courtesy of the neanderthals of West Tyrone, rages about the IMC. He claims : 'The IMC in their activities to date have proven the Sinn Féin argument that they are little more than the echo chamber for the securocrats and spooks who wish to see this process derailed. The information contained in these reports comes solely from the Special Branch, British Military Intelligence and MI5. We all know the anti-peace process and anti-Republican agenda that these faceless organisations pursue.'

I'm not a fan of the IMC myself. I would much prefer the forces of law and order to summarily round-up all Sinn Fein/IRA personnel, incarcerate them where they so richly deserve to be, and perhaps even execute the most prolific murderers in their entourage. However, in the appeasing world of the 'peace process', I suppose the IMC will have to do.

What Doherty actually wants (as an IRA insider) is to see continued electoral growth of his odious party whilst simultaneously practicing all the usual activities which make the IRA the blood-thirsty organisation that it is. Anything that potentially undermines this Jekyll and Hyde pincer movement on democracy must therefore be decried. I have one question: Doherty is a member of an illegal, subversive organisation. Why was he allowed to even stand for Parliament, let alone be elected to it?

2004-10-27T14:48:00.000-07:00

ARAFAT DESTINED FOR PARADISE?

It seems that the wicked terrorist godfather, Yasser Arafat, may be on his deathbed. I certainly hope so - for this evil man has personally ensured that Israeli and Palestinian can never know peace whilst he remains alive. Whether Satan calls him home or not I do not know, but it would be a small mercy for thinking Palestinians of this rogue was sent to paradise - or better, hell.

Can you imagine the sombre and dignified tributes the BBC and its ilk will pay should he pass away? It doesn't bear thinking about.

2004-10-27T14:05:00.000-07:00

Circles in the Sands

Twinbrook GAA club has decided to incorporate images associated with Atkins Diet guinea-pig, Bobby Sands, in their new logo. How often do we hear the cries of innocence when the GAA is listed as 'the IRA at play'? Still, we are supposed to swallow the guff about the ostensible sporting ethos of this association. Please don't let the hallowed turf of a new national stadium for Ulster become defiled by the presence of these people. My thanks to Ambrose Uprichard at Slugger O'Toole for the link.

2004-10-27T13:26:00.000-07:00

Durkan and the Politics of Torpor

Poor Mark Durkan. He is a leader whose eyes see so much, yet whose brain sees so little. Have a gander at the rubbish he has written in the Irish News. So incensed am I by this nationalist speck, I feel suitable ripostes should be given to each of his arguments in turn. Here goes.

'The Good Friday Agreement gave new hope to the people of Ireland. After years of Troubles, it promised justice. It promised equality. It promised peace.'

The Belfast Agreement (the Multi-Party structures thereof) was voted in solely by the electorate of Northern Ireland. I know nationalists like to pretend it has some all-Ireland ratification structure which supposedly renders it impervious to Unionist demands for democratic structural alteration. That is NOT the case. As for the codswallop about 'equality', nationalists had already been living under the most stringent laws governing equal status anywhere in the European Union for almost thirty years.

'For two years in total, the agreement's institutions not only worked, they worked well.'

Suspensions, lack of ministerial accountability, efforts to strip the British institutional fabric out of the province altogether. Yeah, they really worked well, Mark! Ha!!

'Loyalists continued to terrorise nationalist communities and poison their own with drugs. And it just won't wash for unionist politicians to excuse their violence as "reactive".'

Another effort to equate mainstream Unionist politicians with terror in order to shadow the real links of Sinn Fein to the Provisional IRA. Unionist politicians of all hues have called for the arrest, punishment and - in some cases - imprisonment of 'loyalist' terrorists. These calls are well documented and in the public domain. Durkan is nothing other than a devious hypocrite in expounding this opinion.

'IRA activity has also badly damaged trust.'

Indeed it has, Mark. However, when did your separatist crew ever try to punish Sinn Fein/IRA for ongoing terrorist activity. Furthermore, when did you ever abandon nationalist camaraderie to cut a deal with democrats??

'The SDLP has always been at pains to make honest and positive judgments.'

Like the 'honesty' shown by Seamus Mallon when he promised to kick Sinn Fein out of the Executive if the IRA did not cease terrorism. Three years later, they were still there. Lo and behold, so were the SDLP!!

'The SDLP wants a deal that has shared commitments from all the parties not a deal produced by the Governments that all the parties have the opportunity to pick and snipe at.'

No, the SDLP wants transitional institutions en route to a 'united Ireland'. Any exercises designed to make the province stable within the United Kingdom will be resisted by Irish nationalists. That's why the concept of power-sharing is a total abomination.

'Let's not let bad politics damage the agreement, damage our society and risk storing up new trouble for future generations.'

I'll re-phrase that last line. 'Let's not let a bad agreement damage our society any more than it already has done by promoting and enhancing the status of evil and insurrectionism at the expense of a loyal majority.'

2004-10-27T12:59:00.000-07:00

You're so Vain!

'I love me, who do you love?' It's a common derogatory quip used here in Yorkshire and the North West. I wonder if Robert Kilroy Silk has repeated these words over and over to himself as he ponders the shoddy outworkings of his blatant efforts at appropriation of the UKIP leadership?

All of us must at some time have watched an episode of Kilroy. Some of the debates were quite interesting, some were not. Nevertheless, Kilroy Silk was a reasonable anchorman - possessing wit, compassion, plus the ability to put the audience at their ease. On the media front he was an amusing and highly articulate journalist whose treatment at the hands of the panjandrums of the Daily Express was nothing short of despicable.

Even so, my opinion of him as an individual with integrity has been damaged by his machinations whilst an elected representative of the UKIP. I appreciate his 'pulling power' on the hustings when campaigning for a seat at the European Parliament; I acknowledge his detestation of the EU and its multifarious institutions of interference (it is a distaste I and many other equally share). What I do not like is his view of his own infallibility and political apotheosis. If he had wanted to become a future leader of the UKIP he could have done so with patience and understanding. Instead, he has tackled the party hierarchy like a bull in a china shop: undermining his hitherto high regard in public opinion as well as causing deep divisions in the movement he professed to embolden. And, as we know from the experience of John Major's administration in the 1990's, people do not vote for divided parties. What an ass!!!

2004-10-27T12:30:00.000-07:00

WHO'S THE MOST BORING COMMENTATOR?

Right. I've just read (if that's the right word, snoozed might be more accurate) through this stunningly dull article by the new boy at the Belfast Telegraph, Jim Dougal.

Jim seems a nice man. He appears polite, pleasant company and perhaps gifted with incisive political insight. But, and here's the crunch, boy, is he D-U-L-L-. His column is a cure for insomnia! And that got me thinking - who is YOUR most boring political commentator of choice in Northern Ireland?

My top three nominations are;

1. Jim Dougal. Has he ever had a radical thought?

2. Alf McCreary. Beyond words.

3. Lynda Gilby. A blancmange with a keyboard.

Any takers....?

2004-10-27T12:18:00.000-07:00

A WARNING FOR THE INDOLENT.

"So long as the people do not care to exercise their freedom, those who wish to tyrannise will do so; for tyrants are active and ardent, and will devote themselves in the name of any number of gods, religious and otherwise, to put shackles upon sleeping men." - Voltaire

2004-10-27T12:11:00.000-07:00

WORSE THAN 9/11?

Do you think that if an American news network came into possession of a tape from Al Qu'eda st claiming that the next attack on the US will dwarf 9/11 the American people show KNOW about it?

"The streets will run with blood," and "America will mourn in silence" because they will be unable to count the number of the dead. Further claims: America has brought this on itself for electing George Bush who has made war on Islam by destroying the Taliban and making war on Al Qaeda.

And yet, nothing. The networkconcerned - ABC- stays quiet. It's more important to ham up the now discredited "Bombgate" slurs than it is to let the US people know that whether they like it or not, and whether Bush is re-elected, the Jihadists are coming for them. Bush knows this - Kerry is in denial.

2004-10-27T10:27:00.000-07:00

THE FLORIDA RECOUNT.......IS UNDERWAY!

It's started - and well covered on Powerline.

"Led by the Florida Democratic Party, the People for the American Way, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the AFL-CIO, lawsuits target, among others, Florida Secretary of State Glenda Hood, who was appointed by Republican Gov. Jeb Bush, President Bush's brother.

The suits say Republican officials refused to count provisional ballots, improperly disqualified incomplete voter registrations, established overly restrictive rules to disproportionately hurt minority voters and actively sought to disenfranchise blacks. One suit challenges a ruling by Mrs. Hood to throw out forms on which new voters had failed to check a box indicating whether they were U.S. citizens, and another argued that although only 17 percent of the voters in Broward County and 20 percent in Miami-Dade County were black, more than a third of the voter-registration forms that were determined to be incomplete and invalid in both counties involved black voters."

"The essence of the Democrats' strategy is to use bullying tactics to facilitate voter fraud, which they hope will tip the election in their favor. All together, the Democrats have now filed 35 lawsuits in 17 states."

2004-10-27T10:17:00.000-07:00

TERRORISTS IN FROM THE COLD.

Isn't it sickening that at a time when the UK is nominally helping lead the war against terror, three UDA "brigadiers" from Belfast and Londonderry are expected to meet Secretary of State Paul Murphy on Tuesday in an attempt to persuade the Government to recognise the UDA ceasefire.

Murphy has no guts whatoever. The UDA "Brigadiers" should be in prison, not in talks! There should be no candle-lit suppers for these hoods and their simpering proxies. Once more, we witness an appeasement minded Government in full retreat from the practioners of vile terrorism.

2004-10-27T10:01:00.000-07:00

BOTTOM OF THE CLASS.

The cash crisis that afflicts the Belfast and South Eastern education boards has resulted in a Trade Unions (scourge of the Earth) calling for the Education Minister, Bazza Gardiner, to resign from his position as the row over funding for two cash-strapped boards gathered pace.

I have nothing but sympathy for Gardiner and nothing but contempt for the ludicrous Nipsa Branch secretary, Brian Booth, who whines: "The Minister of Education is being totally unreasonable expecting the boards to live within budget..."

There we have it - the fatcat reckless attitude of the public sector manifest. Everyone else in any other walk fo life has to learn how to budget, and to ensure that they live within their means. Everyone but the Education Boards it seems. The Management of these Boards which are u to £20 million in the red should be sacked, and then the individuals should be prosecuted for presiding over a shocking waste of tax payers monies.

The DUP's Sammy Wilson said that the same pressures experienced by the SEELB and BELB were felt across Northern Ireland. "The Minister has made it clear that he has no pot of gold and will not raid the coffers of other boards to help out the SEELB and BELB. The question then is how then will these boards get back to a balanced budget.All the time the clock is ticking towards the end of another financial year and is pointing towards another financial overspend."

Poor Sammy seems to have spent too much time in the class room and not enough time in the real world,. He should get out more. The Education Boards will ONLY achieve a balanced budget when they learn to how to manage their income against their outgoings - its kinda simple! If a Board cannot control the finances of the organisation over which it presides it should be dismissed. That is what should now happen to the profligate Belfast and South Eastern Education Boards.

2004-10-27T01:19:00.000-07:00

THE BRITISH TALIBAN.

Eursoc picks up on a story ignored by our TV media that claims "four of the five British prisoners recently released from Guantanamo Bay had been trained in guerilla combat by the Taliban and al-Qaeda terrorists."

I remember when these guys were released we were treated a media-induced welcome that gave the impression they were heroes.

Eursoc notes that " Few have questioned their stories of what they were doing in Taliban and al-Qaeda dominated Afghanistan in the first place."

My theory was they may have been confused eco-tourists.

2004-10-27T01:11:00.000-07:00

QUESTION TIME MIAMI STYLE.

On this week's BBC Question Time coming from Miami - we will have Michael Moore (extreme left-winger and pie-eater), Sidney Blumenthal (former Clinton Adviser - say no more!), David Frum (Conservative commentator and Bush biographer "The Right Man") and Richard Littlejohn (Who he?). I bet the audience is loaded with Dem supporters and I have already been in contact with David Frum to let him know what to expect. Should be a bear-pit and a last chance for the BBC to try and influence the US election. Hope David does well.

2004-10-27T01:04:00.000-07:00

SH(AMNESTY) INTERNATIONAL.

As we approach the US election, all the stops are being pulled out by the leftists and this is apparent in a report released by Amnesty International today accusing President George Bush of "encouraging abuse" of prisoners in US military custody by branding them terrorists and killers without trial. The human rights group made the claim in a report, which documents the alleged abuses of detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan and at Guantanamo Bay. The organisation also appealed to Mr Bush and his Democratic election challenger John Kerry to pledge an investigation into claims of torture and degrading treatment by US personnel around the world.

It's just a thought but surely Amnesty International wouldn't be so cynical, so contrived, so.partisan that they would be seeking to influence the result of the US election perchance????

2004-10-27T00:47:00.000-07:00

ON THE MOVE.

Just wanted to wish the Black Watch British soldiers a safe and successful tour of duty as they move north to Baghdad to help the US take on the Jihadists. It's not going to be easy but in the final analysis, and listening to what soldiers rather than girly-men liberal media commentators say, they are well up for the challenge. I'm sure they'll do well - and all will return safely to their families. This is WAR and this is why we need soldiers, not aromatherapists or pop-psychologists.

2004-10-26T14:27:00.000-07:00

CONGRATS TO SLUGGER!

I noted in today's Irish Independent that there was quite a lengthy article on blogs. Sorry I don't have a link to it - but the article singled out Slugger O'Toole as a "first rate Irish political blog." I just wanted to congratulate Mick and the gang over at Slugger. They deserve the kudos and have certainly set standards. (Naturally, being profoundly British blog, ATW could not have been considered as an "Irish" blog!!)

2004-10-26T14:23:00.000-07:00

SADDAM INTERVENES IN "BOMBGATE."

From the hugely entertaining Scrappleface:-

"When Iraqi military interrogators informed the imprisoned Saddam Hussein that 377 tons of explosives had disappeared from a huge weapons storage facility, the former Iraqi president expressed concern that the extremely powerful chemical agents might "fall into the wrong hands." His remarks bolstered claims by Democrat presidential candidate John Forbes Kerry that President George Bush had made a "great blunder" by failing to secure the weapons cache at Al Qaqaa." Read the rest of it - what a hoot!

2004-10-26T14:10:00.000-07:00

THE INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AUTHORITY FOR KERRY!

This is quite a good expose at NRO of the malignant IAEA and its central role in the latest "Get Bush" campaign!

As Clifford May puts it, "The Iraqi explosives story is a fraud. These weapons were not there when US troops went to this site in 2003. The IAEA and its head, the anti-American Mohammed El Baradei, leaked a false letter on this issue to the media to embarrass the Bush administration. The US is trying to deny El Baradei a second term and we have been on his case for missing the Libyan nuclear weapons program and for weakness on the Iranian nuclear weapons program."

Liberal are now reverting to full denial mode. They say something so it is true - even when it is patently false.

2004-10-26T14:02:00.000-07:00

TRANSPARENT DECOMMISSIONING.

Any future decommissioning carried out by the IRA should be transparent, Conservative leader Michael Howard has said. He said if his party got into office at the next election there would be no move towards joint authority with the Republic of Ireland "by stealth".

Big deal. OF COURSE there should be no move towards de facto joint authority. That would be against the democratic wishes of the majority of people in NI. OF COURSE the IRA should visibly decommission - or be crushed. That still won't make Sinn Fein fit for Government. An insurrectionist movement has no place in politics and the great sin of the Belfast Agreement and any DUP spawned variation upon it is that it tries to turn this vice into a virtue.

2004-10-26T13:38:00.000-07:00

Kerry and the Plastic Paddies

Isn't John Kerry's campaign supported by some really unpleasant groupings? This week alone we have witnessed endorsements from the media in China and Iran, the pusillanimous Spanish government and the PLO. To add to this horrible spectacle, dear old JFK has now received backing from Bubba Bill 'I'd go to bed with a frog if it had the ability to put on a tutu' Clinton.

The latest addition to this showboat of schlemiels comes courtesy of a US-based organisation called Northern Ireland Alert. It champions Kerry's campaign because it claims Bush has somehow neglected the opportunity to be sufficiently proactive in Ulster matters. In plastic paddy-speak, it means Bush has not been as disgustingly partisan as Bubba Bill was in promoting a republican agenda at every juncture, in addition to lavishing known terrorists with gut-wrenching respectability.

Members of the above group will doubtless be the type who like to rattle tins for Provo fundraising in Irish theme bars, who championed Joe Kennedy Jr when he verbally abused a soldier during a visit to Belfast in 1987, and who blindly refuse to strike an analogy between their Hibernian heroes and the monsters who destroyed the World Trade Center three years ago. Mind you, with Kerry seeking to lay the blame at the feet of the DUP in order to woo the most abhorrent personages in the Irish American community, what can one expect?

2004-10-26T10:42:00.000-07:00

A Judgement of Wisdom

It's such a nice change to have some good news to report. Judge Andrew Hamilton has to be wholeheartedly congratulated for defending Kenneth Faulkner after the latter fired on a house burglar Judge Hamilton subsequently described as 'an absolute menace'.

I'm sure most people reading this will have been victims of crime in recent times. After all, whatever this lying government says, crime in this country has never been so pervasive. If it's not burglaries, it's car crime, vandalism, abuse and harassment, to name but a few. What's more, there always seems to be an army of 'do-gooders' ready and willing to defend the recidivous little cherubs to the hilt.

Last year, my car was targeted four times. On the last occasion, I left work fairly late - around 18:00 - emerging to see a spotty adolescent running a screwdriver the length of my vehicle's bodywork. Overcome by a towering rage at the sight before me, I gave chase. I caught up with him in an alleyway and promptly re-moulded his nose into a shape resembling that of Ernest Borgnine's. When I was later asked by a colleague why I had resorted to such actions, I replied that I was absolutely sick and tired of seeing criminals escaping scot-free due to an overstretched, bureaucratically-encumbered police force; a namby-pamby judicial system; and a society too prone to allowing criminals to avoid the punitive consequences of their crimes. Fortunately, I myself did not find have to account for my actions to the local constabulary.

We have a basic truism: cause and effect. If John Rae (the burglar in question) had not tried to break into Mr Faulkner's home, he wouldn't have been shot. Period!! In the United States, it remains a fundamental principle of liberty to permit homeowners to defend their property by the use of guns if necessary. In politically-correct Britain, powers-that-be seem to be more solicitous to the 'rights' of the perpetrators rather than their victims. Let's raise a glass to Judge Hamilton for having the courage to break this appalling cycle - if only temporarily.

2004-10-26T10:09:00.000-07:00

A View to a Kill

This is what happens when weak, irenic governments insist on giving Ulster's political jobs to pesky, irksome little nationalists. When they are not concealing guns under the table, pandering to their own communities, breaking the law, defending terrorists, undermining the constitutional integrity of the United Kingdom and other such endeavours, they are shooting their mouths off about whether or not to support the police: a service which, by its very nature, must uphold the legal and political integrity of the state it seeks to serve.

Denis Bradley is mea culpa this time around. In an astonishing outburst Bradley, once a priest who became famous as Martin McGuinness's confessor (and who allegedly told him that killing British soldiers was not a sin), said nationalists should reappraise their support for the police if 'the stalemate goes on'. Quite what the PSNI has to do with the ongoing intransigence of republicans - who refuse to visually decommission and disband their illegal Mafioso - I have no idea.

In one sentence, Bradley has exposed the truth behind the historic republican refusal to support the police. Lack of support for the RUC had absolutely sweet sod all to do with the force's ethos, badge or predominant religious make-up. It was a phenomenon of republican refusal to give credence to the legitimate forces of the State. Now that some IRA-loving elements of this cow-pat of a community have realised that the PSNI will not be morphing into a terrorist-controlled band of social workers in smart uniform, they are looking for an exit strategy - using the current deadlock as an excuse to justify the revocation of erstwhile endorsement.

We then move on to the clarion call of 'joint authority'. In one sentence we have a person employed effectively by the British State calling for the dilution of that same state's sovereignty in the region where he acts as an official figure. Me thinks Bradley should go back to doing what he does best: writing drivel for the Irish News, apple-polishing republican terror and whispering in McGuinness's ear.

2004-10-26T10:01:00.000-07:00

SOME MORE UN-TRUTHS.

This headline from the Belfast Telegraph is typical. "Bombshell for Bush: 350 tons of explosives go missing in Iraq." According to the strictly fair and impartial source, The New York Times, (SNIGGER) "nearly 350 tons of lethal explosives - which could be used to trigger nuclear weapons - have vanished from a military facility in Iraq supposed to have been guarded by US troops." This headine has been carried by every media channel and is a clear effort to damage Bush. But just one moment -it transpires that this is one more liberal media smear.

You see the 350 tons that has caused liberal SOOOOO much concern had ALREADY already gone missing on April 10th 2003 when the American troops arrived. Oops!! Don't tell me the NYT didn't take time, in its rush to assist Kerry, to check the veracity of its story?

This latest scam from the liberal media show the desperation they are now in. They know their man is going down so they resort to lies. Can we expect those news organisations that ran with this deceit to issue an apology? Ask Dan Rather!

2004-10-26T08:05:00.000-07:00

KING CANUTE "QUIETLY CONFIDENT".

This gave me a laugh. Ulster Unionist Sir Reg Empey has been selected to take on the DUP's Peter Robinson at the next Westminster election, it was announced today. The noble Knight believes he can unseat the DUP Deputy Leader. I suspect Sir Reg also believes that the Earth is flat and that it don't rain in Indiana in the summertime. Robinson has a good line when he quips abou the UUP "They are remarkable in building themselves up before an election and the electorate is remarkable in knocking them down afterwards."

2004-10-26T07:56:00.000-07:00

TEENAGE KICKS.

I was very sorry to read about the sudden death today of British DJ John Peel. He has died whilst on holiday with his wife, Sheila. I always enjoyed John Peel, liked much of his music and enjoyed his "Home Truths" programme on Radio 4 - full of British eccentricity and touching stories! Hearing "Teenage Kicks" - the Undertones song he so wonderfully championed - will never be quite the same knowing he is gone. Rest in peace, John.

2004-10-25T13:52:00.000-07:00

SAY WHAT YOU WANT BUT HITLER HAD TASTE!

Eric the Unread has an interesting take here on the issue of Germany maintaining a link with Nazism. Seems that Hitler had good taste, liked kids and dogs. Now then - all of a sudden those pesky concentration camps don't seem so bad.....

2004-10-25T13:47:00.000-07:00

RETURN TO THE MIDDLE AGES.

I think it is obvious that "The anti-globalization movement is intellectually bankrupt. It is capable of shouting slogans and protesting international meetings. But in terms of providing solutions to the world's problems, it has nothing to offer." Here's a great take on the topic by Alex Singleton on Samizdata.

I really liked the line, "They (anti-globalizers) have a romantic image of the Middle Ages economy, with people all happier, picking buttercups in the fields. They completely ignore that the economy of the Middle Ages was nasty and oppressive for the majority of those living under it, where people died at a young age. They fail to grasp that with wealth comes the ability to solve environmental problems. Instead they prefer to oppose the creation of wealth."

2004-10-25T12:45:00.000-07:00

He's a man, with a plan.....

2004-10-25T10:40:00.000-07:00

THOSE KERRY LIES - IN DETAIL.

Some of our more liberal-minded readers seem to wish to avoid the small matter of the whopping lies that have characterised the Kerry campaign. So, I offer this most recent detailed list for their perusal. I do understand the lying and being a Democrat President are more or less synonomous, but will the American people choose a liar? We'll see!

2004-10-25T09:49:00.000-07:00

SACK BRADLEY AND DISBAND THE POLICE BOARD.

Well, well. In the words of The Smiths, "Big mouth strikes again." Denis Bradley, Deputy Chair of the NI Policing Board has said if the political problems are not resolved within two weeks, the governments should impose joint authority or another mechanism other than direct rule.

He said republican areas in Londonderry and elsewhere were not being policed properly because of the political deadlock. Of course, let us be clear that he was not speaking as Deputy Chair of the Policing Board but rather in his part-time capacity as one of leading political commentators.

Bradley is a public disgrace and has been from day one. His latest wheeze seems to be to use his quango-given platform to ensure that politics and policing are inextricably linked. Laughably when Patten recommended the creation of this Policing Board he said it was to separate policing and politics. Another lie swallowed by only gullible pro-Agreement Unionists.

Bradley should be sacked, but he won't. He is one of the new post GFA great and the good and is given a fools pardon by this gutless government. The Policing Board is a publicly funded farce - all Unionists should withdraw from it but they won't. They love the salary, the power and prestige. And for that reason, Bradley will continue to talk politics instead of policing without fear of effective censure.

2004-10-25T09:41:00.000-07:00

CLINTON RE-ENTERS.

In the Finbar Saunders (and his double entrendres) tradition, I was entertained by this BBC headline - "Clinton to woo voters for Kerry." What, individually? I mean I know Bubba Bill likes the ladies - but, on a mass scale? What a guy! Of course this entire farce reeks of desperation and whilst Bill may apply the laying on of hands, I reckon Kerry has shot his bolt, so to speak.

2004-10-24T23:24:00.000-07:00

IRA STILL ACTIVE SHOCK HORROR!

A damning intelligence report to police and military chiefs has revealed that the Provisional IRA is currently targeting cops across Northern Ireland. Security chiefs were told of the Provo threat when they met in Belfast recently to discuss the ongoing security situation. Details here.

Now, who is surprised about this? Well, Paul Murphy must be, along with Tony Blair, Bertie Ahern and the entire UK and Irish media. Why? Because these people have been running around spinning the lie that the issue of the IRA has been "effectively" dealt with!! Yeah, so effective that this step-up in republican activity comes shortly after the NIO approved the release of money to 'soften' security measures at a number of police stations throughout the province? And remember, earlier this year, a report by the International Monitoring Commission said although the Provos were not involved in attacks on the security forces, they still remained active, and in a high state of readiness.

So we have confirmation that when it comes the IRA, the more things change the more they stay the same. Appeasers never learn.

2004-10-24T23:19:00.000-07:00

THE TWILIGHT HOURS.

As the Kerry campaign enters its twilight hours, the Washington Times has released a story revealing that U.N. ambassadors from several nations are disputing assertions by Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry that he met for hours with all members of the U.N. Security Council just a week before voting in October 2002 to authorize the use of force in Iraq. An investigation by The Washington Times reveals that while the candidate did talk for an unspecified period to at least a few members of the panel, no such meeting, as described by Mr. Kerry on a number of occasions over the past year, ever occurred. Read the rest here.

It's no big deal as far as I can see. Kerry is a delusionist and only liberals will buy any of the hysterical nonsense he has trotted out.

2004-10-24T23:13:00.000-07:00

Bertie's Bluster

Goodness me, the Irish are getting really arrogant when it comes to the issue of Ulster, are they not? Just over a week after Bertie Ahern, the government leader of a foreign state, stood on a platform and declared the destruction of the Union to be an essential aim of the Irish Republic's policy, big bad Bertie has today issued what, in effect, amounts to a thinly-veiled threat towards Northern Ireland majority Unionist population. Today's Irish Independent says: 'Mr Ahern has underscored the importance of the joint approach by the two governments....and the issue of co-partnership of this process. The positive relationship between the two governments is also a profound and indispensable reality.' I will brush aside this new display of unbridled Hibernian arrogance and introduce a scintilla of political reality to the situation.

Firstly, there are two options for Northern Ireland: 1) We see fundamental changes to the Belfast Agreement; or 2) An indefinite continuation of Direct Rule. Given that most Unionists would be loath to see the Provisionals back in any form of administration, the second option is most likely to come to fruition.

Secondly, if Direct Rule becomes the norm for Ulster's governance, it will be a Direct Rule structure with nothing more than consultative input from the Republic. Directing threats of 'joint rule' at the Unionist population because they refuse to play ball with callous, unrepentant murderers elected by people who are not fit to be described as equal human beings is a trick which has long ceased to have a fear factor in pro-Union politics. Don't get me wrong, I hate to see the Irish state having any role in Northern Ireland's internal workings. That said, the extension of mere consultation is far and away from what separatists see as a fitting conclusion to the collapse of power-sharing.

I think it would be better all round if political big-wigs allowed the Belfast Agreement to die a natural death. Surely a template that has caused instability and community polarisation, as well as the elevation of terrorism, deserves to wither quickly on the vine.

2004-10-24T23:10:00.000-07:00

GUARDIAN CALLS FOR US PRESIDENTIAL ASSASSINATION.

I didn't want to let this pass without comment. In an article in the UK Guardian, Charlie Brooker calls for the assassination of President Bush. Here is the quote that raised eyebrows;

"On November 2, the entire civilised world will be praying, praying Bush loses. And Sod's law dictates he'll probably win, thereby disproving the existence of God once and for all. The world will endure four more years of idiocy, arrogance and unwarranted bloodshed, with no benevolent deity to watch over and save us. John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, John Hinckley Jr - where are you now that we need you?"

Can you imagine the howls of outrage if the Daily Telegraph had run a similar story during the Clinton years? Yet our hypocritical leftist friends stay mute on this. Except, of course the Guardian. This is now what they to say on the subject;

"The final sentence of a column in The Guide on Saturday caused offence to some readers. The Guardian associates itself with the following statement from the writer.

"Charlie Brooker apologises for any offence caused by his comments relating to President Bush in his TV column, Screen Burn. The views expressed in this column are not those of the Guardian. Although flippant and tasteless, his closing comments were intended as an ironic joke, not as a call to action - an intention he believed regular readers of his humorous column would understand. He deplores violence of any kind."

So it was just a JOKE!! Sure guys, we believe you.

2004-10-24T22:59:00.000-07:00

MONDAY MORNING BBC WATCH.

So what lies are the BBC pushing this week?

Well, listening to Radio 4's "Today" programme this morning we discover that:-

1. Bill Clinton's intervention on behalf of Jean Francois "may" swing the election for Kerry. In a barely disguised paean of praise for the most debased ever US President, the BBC are putting all their hopes on Bubba Bill. In another wonderful moment of self-delusion, they claim Bush/Kerry are running neck and neck in all the national polls. In fact, Bush has shown a clear lead in all the national polls but the BBC would prefer to ignore that since it doesn't help their man Kerry.

2. The absolutely craven decision of the British Government to surrender its veto over Asylum and Immigration matters is being presented as a wise and tactical bit of "tidying up" - just like losing our national sovereignty.

3. The slaughter of 50 Iraqis by terrorists is presented as further evidence that the whole Iraqi situation is a quagmire from which we need to withdraw. Just like the terrorists want.

All in all, it's a lovely start to the week for liberals. Pathetic.

2004-10-24T22:56:00.000-07:00

Britannia RIP

New Labour has already done much to destroy the essential British character of this country by permitting unchecked immigration and asylum. Now, Home Secretary, David Blunkett, is due to travel to Luxembourg to sign up to a qualified majority voting system for immigration policy. Put another way, Blunkett is about to consign a fundamental tenet of a state's sovereignty - the ability to patrol its own borders - to the dustbin of history. Hereafter immigration and asylum policy will be decided in essence by individuals over which the UK electorate has now powers of removal.

In order to mollify potential public disquiet, Blunkett and his fellow socialist Janus-faced pillocks will be at pains to tell us that certain aspects of the policy will remain subject to a British veto. I, for one, have grave doubts. Unlike the opt-out from the single currency agreed by Major as Maastricht, the Blair junta did not specifically request a veto on this policy when its was originally proposed as part of the Amsterdam Treaty. Thus, it will be extremely difficult to go against the EU tide if national and European interests clash in the future.

Blame for this fiasco has to go to the British Labour Party. Once again, Blair's crazy fantasies about the 'European project' have set the seal on the gradual erosion of the UK as an identifiable nation-state. In the field of immigration, it is an erosion which could precipitate dangerous civil unrest.

2004-10-24T13:03:00.000-07:00

LEFT IS RIGHT!!

The madness of bilingual Canada manifest. A Canadian judge throws out a traffic ticket and declares the law unenforceable!

2004-10-24T07:44:00.000-07:00

True Intentions

As you know there was a great hullabaloo when Ian Paisley and his band of merry men recently paid a visit to Dublin for tea and buns with Bertie Ahern. Unionists are endlessly informed that the Irish Republic is now a largely neutral assistant in the quest for a stable Northern Ireland. Gone are they fervent republican aspirations of the past, we are told.

Sorry, don't buy it! Read the following excerpt from Ahern's speech to the Wolfe Tone apostles at Bodenstown last weekend. It has all the hallmarks of a government who pays lip-service to the needs and aspirations of Unionists, though has virtually no trace of intent to back up its collective disingenuous blarney. Particularly obnoxious terms are printed in large type.

'As Irish Republicans, our objective is a united Ireland. That is our long-cherished political goal. It remains one of the fundamental objectives of Fianna Fáil.

The unity of Protestant, Catholic and Dissenter and the promotion of the common good of the nation has always been at the heart of our Republicanism. The Agreement provides a framework of engagement to achieve these objectives through consent. It is also an international recognition of their legitimacy.

The unity of our country is a constitutional objective of this State. We see a unity that respects the rights of the different traditions on the island of Ireland. It is a unity to be achieved only by agreement, through harmony and in friendship. It is our firm will to unite all of the people on the island of Ireland. '

As far as I am aware, this is the first reference to a 'united Ireland' (effectively the annihilation of Northern Ireland and the destruction of the Union) made by Ahern at the Bodenstown pilgrimage for several years. Is the hot electoral breath of the Brownshirts now bearing down on him, I wonder? One thing is for certain, no Unionist worthy of the name should be going within 100 forty-foot bargepoles' length of a government which harbours such intentions.

2004-10-24T07:02:00.000-07:00

Bearded Bigmouth

Wasn't Gerry Adams a vocal little terrorist during his recent foray to London? Let me remind you he was there as part of the European Social Forum - a gathering of eccentric political schizoids who believe it is far better to cower before a terrorist threat than actually seek to combat it.

So, what did the Sinn Fein chieftain and IRA Army Council member have to say for himself? Well, firstly, he launched into an analogous fulmination about the activities of 'the British Army in Ireland' (translated as UK soldiers patrolling the streets of a part of their own country) in comparison with their 'actions' in Iraq. Nowhere did Adams mention the well-practiced activities of the Jihadists - such as ritual torture and decapitation. Mind you, one filthy lousy terrorist is hardly going to condemn the actions of other filthy lousy terrorists. Solidarity among insurgents seems to be a key foundation principle.

'What the British establishment did to my country they will do here to you. This approach has already been seen with the miners and now the Muslim community.' Let's break this utter gibberish down into bite-sized pieces. First off, republicans don't own Northern Ireland (or any part thereof). The 'British establishment' spent years in behind-the-scenes negotiations trying to persuade the scumbags Adams praises on a daily basis to desist from murdering people. If one compares the statistics of deaths caused by State forces in comparison with those attributed to his fellow murderers in the Provisional movement, I hardly think he is in a position to catapult insults at others.

Secondly, being a Yorkshireman, I experienced the miners' strike at first hand. Although I think the treatment of the miners and their communities in general brought shame on Thatcher's record, I also believe the miners' cause was gravely damaged by the leadership of a self-confessed communist who manipulated the genuine grief of NUM members in order to pursue his own agenda of class warfare. In other words, the essential ingedient of pragmatism which could have come forth under another leader such as Joe Gormley, was sacrificed on the altar of rampant, self-indulgent struggle.

Thirdly, this neat republican propaganda trick about the infringement of minority rights obviously fits in well with classic concepts of 'victimhood', but it doesn't stand up to scrutiny. If there are Muslims out there who do feel intimidated by surveillance, I suggest it is a consequence of not putting loyalty to their country ahead of their religious obsessions. During the height of the Troubles I argued that the Irish who were prepared to lend vocal or financial support to the IRA should be deported back to their own country. This principle applies equally to Muslims. In these circumstances, the fact that some of them were born here should not matter one jot. If they owe primary allegiance to the predominant religion of their ancestral homelands to the detriment of their adopted country's security, they should be kicked out of the UK and sent to live in those same homelands.

2004-10-24T06:05:00.000-07:00

PALESTINIAN HATRED

Hani al-Hassan, veteran member of the Fatah Central Committee and former security minister, said that although most Palestinians and Arabs see no difference between Kerry and US President George W. Bush, they prefer the Democrat presidential candidate. "We want to see Kerry win [the US presidential elections] not because we like him, but because we hate Bush," Hassan said in an interview with the Saudi newspaper Okaz. Details here in the Jerusalem Post Tells you all you need to know about the sort of people at the top of the Palestinian Authority, and why Israel would be foolish to concede so much as one inch of its territory to these barbarians

2004-10-24T03:01:00.000-07:00

BELIEVE.

Do you "believe" what Cher thinks about geo-political matters? Do you care? Me neither. Speaking in Miami Beach last night at an event organised by the extreme leftist moveon.org, she claimed,

"All the gay guys, all my friends, all my gay friends, you guys you have got to vote, alright? Because it would only be a matter of time before you guys would be so screwed, I cannot tell you. Because, you know, the people, like, in the very right wing of this party, of these Republicans, the very very right wing, the Jerry Falwell element, if they get any more power, you guys are going to be living in some state by yourselves. So, I hate scare tactics, but I really believe that that's true."

She really must hate those scare tactics, mustn't she. Cher should stick to the music - she's just an embarrassement when she tries politics.

2004-10-24T02:45:00.000-07:00

ROBINSON'S BLARNEY.

As he morphs into David Trimble, DUP Deputy Leader Peter Robinson suggests of DUP attempts to get a fair deal, "While there is still a gap it is now simply a case of working through all of the issues and getting them resolved in a way that everyone is comfortable with. It is better to get it right than get it quickly.”

Mmmmm...let's think about that for a moment. "Simply a case of working through all of the issues!" Wow - bet no-one had thought of that before! What a revolutionary thought from Peter. I guess none of those daft as a brush Ulster Unionists ever considered something as radical as "working through all of the issues!"

But Peter goes on to dazzle us with his intellectual brilliance. "It is better to get it right than get it quickly.” You don't say. Better for whom? And why?

Having given us a wonderful example of stating the bleeding-obvious, Robinson goes on to state that the mighty DUP demand “a visual aspect to the decommissioning of IRA weaponry”, meaning a photographic record of decommissioned weapons. What a guy! Would a few digital pictures suffice? How many would be required, exactly? Close-ups or panaromic?What about a decent video? Utterly pathetic.

It's fun watching the DUP turn into the UUP albeit with better PR. The only downside might be that those people who oppose the provisions of the Belfast Agreement on principle must now see that the DUP is sniffing around trying to conclude a deal that looks superficially OK but which in fact will be substantively no better than that obtained by the UUP. Both parties will have succeeded in failing the people. Don'tcha just love our unionist political class??

2004-10-24T02:33:00.000-07:00

BRITISH MILITARY KNOW BEST!

Contrary to all the whinging in the UK media in the past week, and contrary to the witterings of Col. Joan Collins, the British Army ITSELF lobbied to sent to the parts of Iraq where the action is, according to THIS article in the Sunday Times. British officers have been “champing at the bit” for months to be allowed the chance to demonstrate what they believed are superior skills in restoring order, according to a senior military source.

Well, whether their skills (honed in the vast appeasement camp of Northern Ireland) are indeed superior to those of the US, time will tell. But what we can now be certain of is that once again we have witnessed a week of media-generated hysteria aimed at damaging Blair and flaming the fires of Bush hatred across the UK. Quite disgraceful.

2004-10-24T01:53:00.000-07:00

SHAKESPEARE WAS A MUSLIM.

No, I haven't gone mad but this is what the Guardian reports as being under discussion by pro-Islamic academics. The argument will be put forward next month at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London. It comes as part of a week of events focusing on Islam to address concerns raised by the 'war on terror' and improve understanding of the links between Islam and British culture. The International Shakespeare Globe Fellowship Lecture will take place in the middle of the Islam Awareness Week on the 22-28 November and will be preceded by a lecture from Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, the founder of the Zaytuna Institute in California, who will look at Shakespeare's sonnets from a Sufi perspective. Throughout the week the outside walls of the theatre on the banks of the Thames will be illuminated with scenes of Islamic culture.

Where do you start? For beginners, Shakespeare (Shakspere) was not a Muslim except in the deranged imaginings of academics who seek to re-write British culture. Second, why is the Government providing tax-payer funding to such lunacy? Third, these kind of events prove that when it comes to idiocy there is no fool like an academic fool.

2004-10-23T13:13:00.000-07:00

HUMILIATION IS RIGHT.

So, Mitchel Mclaughlin says that the DUP is seeking to humiliate the IRA over its demand for visible decommissioning. McLaughlin told the BBC's Inside Politics programme on Saturday that the DUP were moving the goalposts and increasing the threshold in relation to an end to IRA arms and actions.

Oh no - imagine trying to humialate a gang of inhuman butchers like the IRA!! That will never do, will it. I suppose Mitchel would much prefer that Unionism played silent tribute to the bunch of bloodthirsty barbarians that have waged genocide against it for thirty five years by graciously allowing the IRA to "put arms beyond use" in whatever "modality" was acceptable to the gunmen?

As far as I am concerned, only when the IRA is shown on LIVE on TV flying a white flag up a South Armagh flagpole, then handing over all their illegal weapons, and being imprisoned for their evil acts, would I be satisfied. So to paraphrase Bruce Forsythe "Humilation is the name of the game." McLaughlin and his ilk need to accept that the IRA is a grotesque anachronism and it's day has indeed come - and gone. Self indulgent sound bites on the BBC are a poor substitute for facing reality.

2004-10-23T05:26:00.000-07:00

LE MONDE GETS IT RIGHT!

I have to agree with the recent editorial in Le Monde which spelt out the following;

"They persecute ethnic minorities, torture and kill Falun Ging devotees, and maintain the biggest chain of prison camps on the planet. They execute thousands of prisoners each year after trials that last barely an hour, interfer with the courts and silence defence lawyers they disapprove of. China's leaders believe we are so besotted by the spectacular growth of their economy that we've forgotten what deeply repressive lot they are. And in the case of Jacques Chirac, they are right."

Le Monde goes on to claim that there is NOTHING the French President will not do to curry favour with Beijing.

2004-10-23T05:18:00.000-07:00

ON THE WAR FRONT..

Those who argue against the war in Iraq need to read this article by Clifford May.

In it he draws the following conclusion;

"You can say that the fact that Saddam was harboring terrorists and training terrorists and designing WMD for use by terrorists does not necessarily mean he would have actually produced such WMD and given them to those terrorists to use against Americans. To which one might reply: Are you kidding?"

2004-10-23T05:08:00.000-07:00

BEWARE EUROPEAN PROMISES.

Wess Mitchell at the National Center for Policy Analysis has an excellent article on "The promises and perils of European Union Membership" He carefully outlines the extravagant promises made and their subsequent betrayal by the corrupt "Old Europe"an Union.

The three key u-turns executed by "Old Europe" on the 10 new members were;

Labor immobility : Fearing a rush on their lavish entitlement programs, most Western governments placed last-minute restrictions on the entry of Eastern workers.

Limited farm funds : Pressured by French farmers, the EU cut subsidies to the newcomers by 75 percent. At the current rate, Polish farms must wait a decade to receive the same support French farmers get today.

Limited regional aid : Although the Commission promised to cover most of the $120 billion spent on accession, it has doled out a paltry $1.8 billion, and plans to give Eastern countries far less aid than Greece and Spain received after the last expansion.

Worse still, and sdespite the claim that in the EU Commission’s words, these nations were joining the world’s “most dynamic trade bloc”, consider this;

Since the early 1990s, European unemployment has averaged 11 percent, compared to 4 percent in the United States.
According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, EU countries have not created a single, net private sector job since 1970, compared to 50 million jobs added in the United States.

The future promised to the new EU members was an illusion. They are now trapped in a decaying economically challenged socialist sewer. If the UK had any sense it would get out now.

2004-10-23T05:02:00.001-07:00

SO WHO'S BACKING KERRY?

Let's look at who is backing Kerry for President. Care of Ben Jonson at Frontpage.

North Korea: Although north Asia’s gulag archipelago has not formally endorsed a candidate, official Communist organs have shown a pronounced affinity for John Kerry. In March, the Financial Times noted, “John Kerry, the presumptive Democratic candidate, is also getting good play in Pyongyang.” North Korean radio has aired several of Kerry’s anti-Bush speeches, and the Korean Central News Agency has given the Democratic candidate “glowing” coverage.

Iran: A June editorial in the Tehran Times stated, “Kerry is exactly what the U.S. needs right now.”

Communist China: The state-controlled People’s Daily “news” website formally endorsed John Kerry in July.

Palestinian Authority: PA foreign minister Nabil Shaath has said in a Kerry presidency, “it would be likely that several staff members during Clinton's administration would return,” adding, “that would be a good thing.”

Spain: As early as March, Spain’s appeasenik prime minister and Socialist Party member Jose Luis Zapatero said, “I want Kerry to win.”

France: Naturally. Germany? Of course.

Mmmm...Kerry certainly does command the respect of the Axis of Evil and the Axis of weasel. I wonder WHY?

2004-10-23T05:02:00.000-07:00

The Morgan Grinder

Leftist solidarity was to the fore when Welsh First Minister, Rhodri Morgan, and Liberal Democrat 'Leader', Charles Kennedy bombarded the unsuspecting folk of North East England to make the push for a 'Yes' vote in the ballot on regional devolution. After fragmenting the cohesiveness of the United Kingdom by adopting devolved models of governance in Scotland, Wales and (sometimes) Northern Ireland, advocates of the Left have now turned their attention to balkanising England: we English are not entitled to a 'national' assembly of our own.

I dislike the whole devolution project. At the moment, fissures in the constitutional structure of the UK are well hidden by the presence of a dominant Labour Party is all mainland constituent regions concerned. The danger arises when a Conservative government (almost certain to be elected as the major party in England only) is returned to power. Indeed, Henry McLeish in his book, 'Scotland First', warns of a constitutional crisis in such circumstances. That's what you sow when you undermine the subliminal objectives of the Act of Union.

It's not only the cost of devolution bothering me, it is the way it is financed. English taxpayers fund the lion's share of running costs for assemblies over which they have no control. Furthermore, Morgan's argument about the 'benefits' brought to the Welsh as a result of devolution must be taken with a pinch of salt. The Welsh Assembly was endorsed by only 25% of those eligible to vote in the principality; it has been a costly gravy train for political near-do-wells; and it lacks any function other than to present a smokescreen of 'democratisation' for decisions essentially still taken in London. For example, whereas the Scottish Parliament can override existing legislation in areas where functions are devolved, its Welsh counterpart can only amend legislation in transferred matters.

Voters in the North East don't need an expensive talking shop with the power of a parochial church council. The respective electorates of Yorkshire and the North West are due to be brainwashed with similar referenda in the coming months. Who knows, if the people of the North East vote as I expect them to, they will save us the trouble of having to give this rotten government a double negative blow.

2004-10-23T03:55:00.000-07:00

THE BILGE FROM PILGER

Here's a great example of a very brave 21 year student, armed only with Pilger's own on-the-record words, exposing the sickening hypocrisy of leftist guru, John Pilger. Read the article here. As you can see, the "fearless intrepid" Pilger lacks the basic resolve to answer the devastating replay of his own rancid anti-US rhetoric. He's pathetic - and much loved by the UK media.

2004-10-23T03:28:00.000-07:00

Diddums!

I feel sooooo sorry for the Provisional IRA this cold Saturday morning. Just think, all those murders, mutilations, punishment beatings, rackets and bombings, and yet they feel slightly perturbed at the thought of their brutalising arsenal being decommissioned to the satisfaction of democrats through the lens of a camera.

I don't know how peaceful, constitutionally-minded politicians have the nerve to demand that terrorists and murderers - who have first-class honours degrees in spin, callousness and mendacity - rid themselves of their savage accoutrements in a verifiable fashion. So momentous, apparently, were the last two acts of 'decommissioning', the Provisionals wouldn't even share the details with rest of the Ulster political scene. My guess is a water pistol and a pea-shooter were buried somewhere deep in a Kerry bog.

You will have guessed by now my 'sympathy' is imbibed with sarcasm. After what they have committed over three decades, they (the IRA) should be thankful democrats simply want to stop at their 'humiliation'. In several other countries, terrorist 'humiliation' is often followed by incarceration and execution. If only such fitting punishments were still on offer here in the United Kingdom.