dear dave. . . again

So then. . . .

Dear Dave,

What the fuck are you thinking by agreeing to the building of a new Nuclear power plant here ?

I thought we were supposed to be investing in green energy resources and concerned with the future of the planet ?

Clearly not.

And to add insult to injury we were given this news in the same week that three of our energy companies announced price rises for consumers. Your advice to those who will struggle with this was to shop around providers as there are apparently some better deals out there. Presumably you mean EDF - this being the very same company that are going to be building the new blot on our landscape.

(I'm not entirely sure it's a coincidence that they are one vowel away from being a racist organisation).

And not even a British company at that. Oh no, these fuckers are French.
So no doubt the same company that are responsible for Frances 50+ plants, the majority of which are sat on their North Coast, so if they go Chernobyl the fallouts heading our way. And now they're actually putting one up here.
Fuck right off.

Some twat on the news actually said "nuclear energy is relatively safe".
Relative to what ? Anthrax ? Semtex ? Armageddon ?

Did you learn nothing from Fukushima ? If the world only learnt one lesson from that it should've been that when you have Nuclear plants you don't even need human error or someone to push the proverbial button for a major disaster to happen. And the effects of what happened there are going to have repercussions for the planet for a long time to come. We are still facing the possibility of further meltdowns, it's kept out of our news but the "clean up" operation is only just beginning.
Not that that shits ever going to be truly clean.

And then...
I knew you were an idiot but really ?

Two days ago I saw you on the lunchtime news trying to defend the utter cock up your governments making of the economy, and talking about the budget announcements that were due to be made that evening.
And in relation to the present state of affairs you said....

"When someone's ill you don't take their temperature every day do you?"

What the fuck ? NO, when someone's ill you take it several times a day. It really does worry me that the man supposed to be running this country can't even get an analogy right.

Time you had a lightbulb moment Dave ? No, it's a bit too late for that.

Sort it the fuck out,
DCG.

panic in detroit

England is in the grip of petrol fever.

Apparently someone somewhere threatened to go on strike about something and that meant there was a chance that just maybe-possibly-potentially there might be a slight petrol shortage sometime in the not too distant future IF it happened. Although the people who had said they MIGHT go on strike had not given any idea of a date when that MIGHT be, and there were still some "talks" happening that would most likely resolve whatever the issue was.
Or to put it another way a Union decided to try and hold the government to ransom. I'm not entirely sure what it is they're after, it may well be quite justified, but ever since the days of the wicked witch Maggie Thatcher the Unions are no longer as powerful as they used to be.

But then someone must of told Dave (and we all know he's not the brightest star in the sky, especially as he has still not answered my letters so clearly still not seeing sense), and Dave decided to tell the British public via our everso reliable, totally honest and not-at-all-likely-to-whip-the-public-into-a-frenzied-panic-media that it might be a sensible idea if everyone kept their tanks topped up, or kept a spare can of petrol JUST IN CASE. 

And anyway we were told the army were on stand-by, and they would get the petrol to where it needed to be but the main thing was for everyone to NOT PANIC BUY.

Hmmm. . . 

Do I need to caption this ? Nah, already done for me.

Smart move.

Because for one thing England has had a week of freakishly hot weather for this time of year - so that sends us all a bit loopy anyway. A friend of mine was riding her bike along our seafront on Wednesday and she saw people swimming in the sea, and our sea here is fucking freezing even in the middle of summer. So yeah, people go a bit mental when they see the sun.

And also because if there's one thing we're good at it's panic buying.
Anyfuckingthing.
And we don't seem to need much of a reason, an impending bank holiday will do it never mind an actual shortage. Nowadays all of the big supermarkets are open every day of the year, but go into one the day before a bank holiday and you will see people buying up enough food to see them through your average nuclear holocaust.

I don't think we ever got over the rationing during the war.
Or the power cuts and strikes that happened when I was a kid.
Certainly my parents generation never did and I guess some of them have passed that on to their children too, my Mum only had to hear the word strike and she'd be off to Tesco to buy 10 loaves of bread, 20 pints of milk and as much meat as she could fit in her freezer.
Even though there was only two people in her house, she rarely ate sandwiches, her husband drank black coffee and the strike was in a carpet factory at the other end of the country.

But anyway, thanks to Dave and his bunch of tossers government giving out the warning we now have queues at petrol stations from 6am every day and some are actually closed because they have run out completely.
In trying to beat the potential shortage that maybe-possibly-potentially could have happened the drivers of this country have actually made the thing they were trying to get prepared for happen.
Idiots.

A typical British day out in the sunshine.

And then this evening they announced that the proposed strike has been averted . . . for now. But there is something that only two people knew about until I wrote this and now you, dear sheep, are being let in on the secret.
All this is actually my fault.
And not because I have failed in my attempt at world domination valiant mission to get Dave to listen to me.

Oh no.
This is yet another example of the notorious Cowgirl jinx.

As you may remember I am not allowed for public safety reasons don't drive. Consequently I have no need to buy petrol. Ever.
But, I have a rather nasty persistent overgrown weed (not that kind of weed, yeah I fucking wish) growing in my garden. Every year I hack it down and spray it and every year the fucking awful thing comes back. I told a mate about it, as I was thinking I would have to pay some specialised service to come and get rid of it for me. He said that if I drill into the roots and pour some diesel in it's bound to kill it once and for all. I know it's not really allowed, bad for the environment blah blah blah, but it's not like I'm building a nuclear reactor in the shed (I'm not fucking french) and a can of diesel is about a fiver, compared to what it would cost to get someone in ? Yeah, I'm gonna try Steve's suggestion first.
My mate at work found a petrol can for me on Friday and said that she would get some for me during the week when she filled up her car so that I could do the garden this weekend while the weather is still nice.

She gave up every time she went because of the size of the queues.

And now not only are there the mile long queues at the garages that have still got fuel, they have now said that they are not letting anyone fill up spare petrol cans.

See ?
All my fault.
I really should run for Prime Minister, it seems I can fuck up the country just as much as Dave.

And all I need to do it is an empty one of these.

dear dave. . . again

Dear Dave,

After the last time I wrote to you I was really hoping you would consult me about any future decisions regarding this country you are driving into the ground supposed to be running.

I guess you didn't learn eh ?
What will it take for you to realise that I am always fucking right.

I don't watch the news very often and I refuse to buy the papers as I have no use for propaganda and celebrity gossip, so I haven't been keeping an eye on you.
But today I happened to read one that someone left on the train and what do I see.

Apparently you are colluding with the fucking French.
And you know how I feel about them.
If you don't then maybe you should read this.
Some plan to jointly build a pilotless aircraft with them ? WHAT IS UP WITH THAT ???
Even I, with my limited knowledge of politics know enough about their history to know that they cannot be trusted when it comes to anything to do with war.
How very ironic that the country whose attitude is usually "nothing to do with us...." whenever the rest of the world decides to get involved in a conflict in some godforsaken corner of the globe wants to build the latest in warfare technology with us.

If it's a success they will take all the credit (and no doubt cream off the profits ) and if not we will get all the blame.

And as if that isn't bad enough apparently you have struck some deal with them over nuclear power.
Doing what exactly ?
What the fucking fuck.
The sweetener for us, the British public, is that this deal will mean jobs.
Please tell me you haven't agreed to process all the nuclear waste from the country that has more nuclear power plants then any other ?

Seeing as I'm taking the time and trouble to write to you let me have a brief word about Syria. I understand that you are having meetings about the situation there. Whilst I'm sure the Syrians who are opposed to what is happening in their country appreciate the efforts of anyone who tries to help, I watched a news update the other day where a reporter was showing your picture to the people and none of them even knew who you were.
So what makes you think they are going to listen to you ?

And how can you possibly hope to resolve the situation when there are not representatives from all the different factions involved in the conflict present ?

We all know you're not likely to actually call for a military intervention, there isn't any oil in Syria.
Although I'm sure if you asked your new mates the French they might suggest you hurry up with the new plane so you can bomb the fuck out of the place, just to check it works.
It's not like they're going to let you test it anywhere they have a vested interest in after all.

And before you start telling the rest of the world how to run it's affairs perhaps you need to try and sort out the mess you're making of this country.

I'd like to thank you for listening, but I bet you don't.

peace ?

The English uprising appears to be over - for now.


Although it might be a good time to check ebay for plasma TVs and trainers.

We now have news bulletins full of politicians and social commenters giving their views as to what went wrong and what can be done. If you read my last post then you know my opinions on some of the root causes. A friend of mine who is a psychologist actually wrote a really interesting piece about mob mentality and the mindset behind that.

Not that it was ever really any kind of uprising, or even really a riot. It began as a protest over a shooting and escalated into mindless vandalism and a spot of late night shopping.

Uprisings require organising and that takes more brains then most of those involved could ever dream of having, although on several news reports shown of looting youths there were older men directing the youngsters on the rampage.
Telling them which shop windows to put bricks through that is.
Worrying.

I'm inclined to agree with the idea that once it got started there was co-ordination involved. How did it kick off in several big cities all over the country at about the same time on the Sunday night ?
There is talk in the media of blame on social networking for that, but we've had organised protests in this country before we had so much technology - remember the good old fashioned phone. And how the 'word' was spread is not the real issue here, more concerning is where that came from and the mindset of those who decided to act upon it.
It was announced on the news that all police leave was cancelled and that they were being brought into London from elsewhere in the country, I reckon elsewhere in the country decided to take advantage of that situation.

Wish I'd thought of that, I'm off on holiday next week I could do with some new summer clothes.

My fear about all this was that it would be used by the racist scum to add fuel to their pathetic arguments. Even though in every film of what happened that I've seen there were just as many white as black kids involved, probably more white kids in fact and the older men directing them were white, a lot of the media and public focus seemed to fall on the black kids.
And as always happens there have been the usual bout of text jokes doing the rounds and most of them play to the racist tone.

I'm not saying they didn't make me laugh. But I felt suitably ashamed of myself afterwards.
Honestly.

I did see an item on the news about the EDL (big bunch of nazi racists claiming to be patriots) saying they were going to step in and sort out the riots. These losers have done nothing but stir up hate towards moslems and wherever they go the police tend to follow because just their presence is enough to cause problems. No doubt they thought this was their chance to show the public that they are the good guys.
Yeah right.
I wouldn't be surprised if they had something to do with stirring the situation up in the first place.

And as for those that started this chain of events after one young man was shot and killed, they have gained nothing. The death of their friend would probably have remained high on the news agenda, except that now it has been swamped by stories about the riots, court appearances by those involved and political opinions. Questions have been asked in parliament about police funding cuts, nobody is questioning the fact that they shot and killed someone.
If and when the name of that young man gets mentioned in the future it will always be synonymous with the riots. Is that a fitting eulogy for anyone ?

The worst story from all this is of two brothers and a friend who were run down by a speeding car. All three are dead, apparently they and a few other friends were trying to protect their area from looters and from what I can gather it's believed that the car that hit them was being driven by youths that they had earlier chased away.
There was CCTV footage of what preceded and the driver has been arrested.

How appalling that three more young men died as a direct result of what began as a protest about the death of another.
Where is the justice in that.

The father of the two brothers has been on TV appealing for calm and asking that there are no retribution attacks for what happened to his sons and their friend, this was a situation that had potential to escalate into something far worse then looting a few shops. This man, despite the pain and grief he is going through, appears to be becoming the voice of reason for all that has happened and in his own quiet way something of a spokesman for peace.
This man is a Moslem.

I hope that those who have spent the last few years trying to tell the world that Islam is full of terrorists who want nothing but war are watching.

Anyway it appears we don't need suicide bombers to destroy our cities.
Just send in the chavs.



Getting back to the jokes that have been doing the rounds...

One of my friends tried to tell me a joke about looters and water cannons, she began it by saying "Cameron has agreed the police can use water pistols . . . "
I didn't hear the rest of the joke because I was too busy laughing at the picture in my head of police with these. . . . .

Yup ! That'll scare them off.

dear dave

Dear fuckwit that's supposed to be running this country David Cameron,

I really didn't want to have to say I told you so. . . .
But I fucking TOLD YOU SO.


THIS is what happens when you force young people to live in sink estates.

THIS is what happens when people have to live in near poverty.

THIS is what happens when you don't invest in schools and education.

THIS is what happens when young people have no decent affordable leisure activities

THIS is what happens when you cut back on youth services and advice/ guidance centres.

THIS is what happens when young people have no aspirations.

THIS is what happens when young people have no jobs.

THIS is what happens when young people have no future.

THIS is what happens when teenagers have babies and kids are raised by kids.

The events of the last few days have left most of Britain in a state of shock.
The initial protest occurred after a young man was shot and killed by police, given that our police are not normally armed this person must've done something to cause alarm. It is known that he had a gun, and I guess he must've either used it to commit a crime - there is speculation that he was a drug dealer, or at the very least brandished it in some way.
Until we have the results of the enquiry into that I'm not really willing to say much, - except that it is a sad reflection of the way our society is going when young people are walking around carrying guns.

And what happened to him is probably the best example of a reason why not to have one.
You have a gun, your mate has a gun, your rival has a gun, your enemy has a gun. So his friends, rivals and enemies will get a gun too.
Sooner or later everyone will want to gun to defend themselves from the criminals with guns.
The police will fight fire with fire.
Someone is going to get shot.

The mob mentality of the events that followed has very little to do with that young man's death and everything to do with the dis-affected youth of this country. The few I have seen interviewed on the TV and asked why they were causing mayhem had no real answer to give. Only one mentioned the lad that was killed. And in most of the footage I've seen they looked like they were enjoying themselves.
I know that's bad.
But how shit, sad and boring does your life have to be if that's the most exciting that happens. And what does that say about the way you were raised and your intelligence and state of mind.

Our police were stretched to the limit trying to deal with what happened, and I have heard talk on news bulletins about ending the cuts to police budgets.

But Dave, maybe you should stop cutting back on investments in young peoples services, education, training programmes, grants that help with cost of further education and instead make some serious investments in our children and their futures.
Because if you did that then they might just grow up to be decent human beings with jobs and money in their pockets and no desire to cause civil unrest.

And then you wouldn't need to be worrying about policing street riots and looting.

You know I'm right.
I always am.

Yours sincerely.
Cowgirl.

bad decisions

No offence to my readers across the pond but I used to think America was pretty fucked.
The home of McDonalds, Jerry Springer, KKK and the Westborough church.

I suppose it's relevant to the size of the country but America seems to have the worst of everything. Serial killers, drive by shootings, gangs, botox filled 8 year olds in beauty pageants, crazy people and extreme obesity.
There is so much stuff that I see on the TV that makes me say 'only in America'.
And yeah I know that there are other countries where worse things happen, but it seems to me that some parts of America are so fucking tolerant of so much wrongness whilst being intolerant of other things that are rightly becoming accepted elsewhere - gay marriage for instance.
But the thing that scares me the most is watching documentaries about the youth. Especially young black people, any American prison I've ever seen on TV appears to be full of young black men, my sons age and younger, who often talk about killing each other and awful things they've seen on the street as if it's normal everyday stuff.
I guess for them it is.
I find that worrying and very very sad.

Some of the things I've seen and heard about the country made me very glad indeed to be English.

But lately I'm starting to think that we're heading the same way over here.

If we want our country to have a decent prosperous future then we need to invest in our youth. It sounds like a cliche but the children are the future, and if you don't take care of them - by giving them decent chances and choices in life you're gonna get screwed when it's their turn to run the country or work and pay taxes that keep the place afloat.
Fact.

Crime rates, underage drinking, poverty, lack of education, teenage pregnancy and drug use are linked.
Fact.
It's also true that a lot of those things occur out of boredom, lack of choice and low aspirations. Many young people nowadays live in areas of high density population where unemployment rates are high and the local schools are performing badly in terms of pupils achievements.

It's a downward spiral of low expectations and outcomes that's starting at a younger age with each new generation.

One of my previous jobs was working for a community based charity that targetted young people who were perceived to be at risk of, or already involved in criminal activity by setting up Youth Inclusion Programmes. Since I was employed at the start of a new project part of the role was to talk to the police, youth offending team, schools and councillors and obtain anti-social behaviour and crime statistics for the area.
As a charity that relied on funding we needed to be able to prove there was a need in the chosen area, and then over time show that the work we undertook had an effect on those statistics.
The work was essentially in two parts, young people who were referred into the project by the police and YOT -  these kids were the ones to whom we would offer an intensive service that involved mentoring, and the other part was to set up and run community based activities that were open to any young person who wanted to attend.

It took about six months to get things properly up and running. Some young people were easier to reach then others, but once it was in place we had ALL the kids from the area who were known to the police involved, coming to our sports sessions, youth groups, working with us in school, some were even working towards recognised awards such as the Duke of Edinburgh.

We helped these kids stay out of trouble by keeping them entertained.
Although I no longer work there the project - and several others run by the same charity around the city - are still running and doing great things. I could write about individuals I personally mentored and achievements they made but this would end up being an epic post, lets just say it still makes me very happy to know I played a part in helping them on the right path.
I occasionally see some of the young people around and they are all doing well. Yes there are some for whom it doesn't work, but mostly it does.
And yes, those statistics did indeed drop.

And really all we did was give them something productive and entertaining to do with their spare time that gave them a choice other then petty crime and anti-social behaviour.

And then . . . .

Today on the news I hear the government are cutting funding to youth services by FOUR MILLION pounds.

Way to fucking go.

All this will do is increase the levels of boredom, and lack of productive activities for our kids and force closure of the remaining youth centres, and what will the end result of that be ?
Bored kids getting into trouble.
And worse.
(Update in light of recent events: Much worse. Once again I was right.)

Because it will be the youngsters from the poorer families in the deprived areas where the youth club is their only alternative to hanging around the streets who suffer. The ones who need the free services because for whatever reason their families cannot afford to be paying for expensive clubs and sports centres.
Even if they could young people are often quite territorial, they like to socialise and meet with their friends in their local area, and a lot of built up urban areas are lucky to have a park, never mind a sports centre, cinema or the like.
And of course the other important service that youth workers provide is taking the time to get to know the young people and their problems, and offering alternatives and solutions. They are crucial in identifying issues that need specialised help, like drugs workers and health advisers and can direct young people to other services that they are often unaware of such as sexual health. Sometimes they identify victims of child abuse, their role goes way beyond organising activities.

In Hampshire alone this will mean the loss of 150 youth workers and Connexions advisers. Connexions is a service that helps young people access jobs and further education.

The announcement said that services to disabled youngsters won't be affected.
Well I guess that's good news for them but they are rarely the kids who end up in trouble, and if you're disabled there is other help available to you and your family. In this country if you as an adult are unable to work because you are caring for another person who is disabled there are extra benefits you can claim, and there are many charities that offer all kinds of help.

Living in a high rise flat in a crap area where there's nothing to do and no green spaces with three siblings, one parent and no money qualifies you for nothing.
Apart from a shitty life.
Education might be a way out, as long as your school isn't subject to government cuts that mean there are 40 kids to every teacher and the disruptive kids ruin every lesson because there's no money left to fund pupil referral units that specialise in helping them.

The other 'sweetener' to accompany this bitter pill is that instead of 4 million given to youth services, which generally run centers and offer services that are available to all, the government is going to give 1.8 million to youth  charities. They do great things, as I said it was a charity that I worked for, but often with charities the work will be aimed at a particular group to the exclusion of others. Charities are required to bid for funding, so there is no guarantee that the money will go where it is most needed. If the worst and neediest area has no charity based within it to apply for some of that money then none is going to go there.

In the same news bulletin was the announcement that the Hindhead tunnel opened today.
This cost THREE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY MILLION pounds.

This'll come in handy when no-one can afford a car anymore.

And we are also reported to be spending around NINE BILLION pounds on the various venues etc needed to host the Olympics next year.

Lately twisted priorities seem to be a bit of a recurring theme for me, but this, takes the proverbial fucking biscuit.
Lets invest in roads and stadiums to impress the rest of the world.
And who gives a fuck that our young people are fast becoming a wasted generation with nothing to look forward to apart from criminal records, drugs, unemployment, teenage pregnancy and prison.

We need to start making some serious investments in our schools, and that means paying teachers a decent wage as well as the buildings, and stop cutting back on the services that provide for those most in need.

When's the next election 'cos I think I'd make a much better job of running this country then the fuckwits doing it now.

If Americas's screwed then Britain is being royally fucked up the arse.

tragedy

Last Saturday I was up early and off out shopping. Got home around 4pm, pottered about the house for a bit then sat down and put the laptop on.
Top of my facebook newsfeed "RIP Amy Winehouse".
So I put Sky News on.
Since I just wanted to catch up on events but was also checking mail and things online I left it on in the background for a couple of hours.

Very sad, another talented young person dead, and of course I feel for those who knew and loved her.
But the day before 90+ innocent people lost their lives in Norway, and some deranged and disturbed individual pushed the destruct button for them, Amy did it for herself.

And yet she was getting more coverage then the Norwegians.

Sky news kept replaying an interview with her father in which he had spoken of his fears that she would end up dead, and yet they were also saying that they weren't sure if he had even heard about her death as he was believed to be in America.
What ?
How very inappropriate. Here you are broadcasting all about the events as you see them, endless conjecture about her drug and alcohol problems, repeated footage of an interview, various non-entities giving their opinions on the phone, and yet you're not sure if all of her closest relatives are aware.
Imagine if you lost a child, well no don't it's too awful to even imagine, but what if you heard about it via the television ?
Whatever happened to the days when a tragic death might be spoken about on the news but the name would not be given until "all relatives have been informed".

In the wake of the Murdoch / News of The World phone hacking scandal I would've thought all aspects of the British media would want to be very careful about crossing lines at the moment.

I suppose when anything happens to a person who lives their life in the public eye it's very hard to keep it quiet but this was all over the news very soon after she was found, and by the time I put the TV on fans and the media were camped outside her house.
Makes me think someone made a call to the press.
And it seemed to me that on my TV we were getting about 5 minutes out of every 30 about Norway. It was that that I wanted to know more about since I had not seen much news the day before.
But no, Sky obviously thought that yesterdays news was just that.

I understand that Amy's death is closer to home then the events in Norway, and that some people may feel as if they know her whereas those who died abroad are strangers, but I doubt whether anyone who followed the story of her life could say they were really that surprised at what happened.
Given that it's been three years since she last released any music and her few public performances were only noted for the state she was in, would she really still be quite so famous without the drug binges, failed relationships and public displays of messiness. She certainly wouldn't have been in the tabloids and gossip magazines without it.
Her story the last few years has just been a car crash carried out under the glare of publicity.

However nobody could've predicted the massacre in Norway - the whole country must be in a state of absolute shock. And since the media is largely responsible for relaying what happens in the rest of the world shouldn't they be getting some perspective on the coverage they give ?

It's quite clear that all the people close to Amy had tried to help her overcome her problems. But the only person who can really stop addiction is the addict themselves. You can offer help and intervention but unless the addict wants it you're wasting your time.
I guess fame, fortune and money don't make you happy.
In fact they probably just made it a whole lot easier for Amy to get what she thought she needed.

But this isn't a story about some tragic abused homeless lost soul who turned to drugs to escape the horrors of her life, she was perhaps unlucky in love but this is a person who pretty much had it all.
She might've made some bad decisions and choices, but SHE made them.

What choice did the young people who died on that Norwegian island have ?

RIP.
Every person who died too soon these last few days.

press gang

How ironic is it that one of the biggest scandal mongering newspapers has been forced to shut as a result of a huge scandal involving it's own reporters.

Or scum of the earth ?

For those of you not in the UK the News Of The World is was a Sunday tabloid that filled it's pages with more kiss and tell stories then actual news. It's centre pages were generally filled with someones sordid sex secrets. The paper, which was owned by Rupert Murdoch, thrived on the shame and humiliation it could bring upon public figures. Murdoch is in the process of bidding to own all of BSkyB at the moment, questions are now being asked about his suitability to do so. I hope he is refused, even if he wasn't aware of what was happening, as the owner he has to take ultimate responsibility for all that occurs in his organisation.

The phone hacking scandal that caused it's downfall first came to light a while ago when it was revealed that they had tapped the phones of a few celebrities including Jude Law and Sienna Miller, who recently sued them and received £100,000 in damages.
However it has now been revealed that the paper also hacked the phone of a young woman who was abducted and murdered. When she was first missing and her family realised her phone was still active they kept it topped up and were leaving regular messages for her.
This paper hacked her phone and deleted some of the messages.
The phone was being monitored so of course this was picked up on, this led her family and the police to believe that she was still alive.
Apparently the police have also now questioned the families of two other girls that were abducted and murdered in relation to the same matter.

How fucking low and disgusting is that.
It's bad enough to pry into the lives of celebrities but the false hope they gave that family was cruel and senseless. There is no possible way that it did not occur to whoever deleted those messages what the immediate outcome would be.
The fact that mobile phones can even be hacked so easily raises questions about personal security, but there are also legal issues. The police need warrants to tap phones but if any nosy reporter with access to the right technology can do it then are any of us really safe from prying eyes ?

I know that nothing can ever compensate the family for the loss of their daughter, the person responsible has been imprisoned where he will hopefully rot, but I really hope they sue the paper. The trial has raised concerns over the judicial process because of the way they were treated, so one would imagine that they might not want to ever see a courtroom again but the NOTW should really be made to pay for the extra and unnecessary suffering they caused them and the severe invasion of privacy.
If Sienna Miller gets a hundred grand they should surely be entitled to way more then that.

But isn't it about time something was done about the intrusive nature of the press as a whole ? Even after the death of Princess Diana, where it is acknowledged that they played a part - her car was driving too fast to get away from the paparazzi that followed her every move, they still persist in hounding those considered by them to be legitimate targets.
We live in a society where gossip sells papers and magazines, and for those that court celebrity I guess any publicity is good publicity but a line has to be drawn somewhere.
And do the public that buy these publications not have to take some responsibility for encouraging them ? After all if nobody bought them they might have to have a rethink about the content.

Often at the end of one of the NOTWs salacious articles by some fame hungry slut who slept with a footballer and wanted to tell the world how crap/great he was in bed there would be a number to call if you too had a story about the same person. I wonder how many stupid tarts aspiring models see that as an opportunity to make a few quid, raise their own profile, and set out to sleep with well known people just so they can sell the story.
Quite a lot I bet.

I suppose there is justification for what the papers do if it exposes corruption and crime, but even then is it right for them to break the law to do so ? In the past serious criminals have been set free because police did not follow the correct procedures and the evidence obtained therefore deemed inadmissible in court. Yet it's fine for reporters to break the law and hack phones in the name of freedom of the press ? Then shame whoever the target was into public admissions of guilt.
Although so far it appears that all they have done is hack phones of unfaithful celebrities and distressed families.
So no, no justification there whatsoever.

The investigation into this is ongoing, a few representatives of the paper have been trying to justify their actions to no avail really. Last night one of them was pretty much annihilated by Steve Coogan . . . .

I always thought he was a comedy genius, last night he became a public hero.

Although the NOTW was the UKs biggest selling Sunday paper there are others, and the company that produced it will no doubt just change the name and be back again next week.

A lot of the big companies that used it for advertising announced that they were pulling out before the paper said it was closing, I hope they have enough of a conscience to not use ANY publication produced by the company in the future either. 

Otherwise it just becomes a token gesture.

Loss of revenue is the only way to hit them where it hurts, and for that to have any real effect on an organisation that's worth millions it needs to be sustained long term.

Hopefully other newspaper companies will also learn a lesson from this. But I doubt it.

And you really shouldn't believe all you read in the papers anyway.

Lets face it even the weather report is usually a load of bollocks.

I'm off to tart myself up and see if I can pull a third rate footballer.
I have a gas bill needs paying.

just one man

So Bin Laden is dead.

Well unless you believe the conspiracy theories that have inevitably begun to go around. As far as that goes I have no comment, what I am wondering is if it is true does it really make the world a safer place ?

I can understand people who feel it is vindication for 9/11. The pilots of the planes are of course dead (and presumably there are a few less virgins in heaven as a result), but the amount of planning and co-ordination required to undertake the attack must of involved many people.

Even if it was in fact Bin Laden who thought up the idea in the first instance he alone was not responsible for everything that happened on that day.

As an act of terrorism it was the ultimate.
And whilst I want to make it absolutely clear that I in no way condone the atrocity that happened on that day, in terms of striking America where it would hurt the most and having maximum impact it was genius.
Evil, warped, sadistic, horrific genius - but genius all the same.
Even the date - if you live in the USA what number do you dial for the emergency services.
911.
No doubt that date was chosen with the idea that from then on every time a US citizen rang it they would be reminded of that awful day.

And lets not forget that Al Qaeda are thought to be responsible for the July 7 bombings here in London. This was nothing like as devastating as what happened in New York but killed 56 people and left 700 injured.
And struck right at the heart of the capital.

Was one man really capable of thinking up and planning all that ?

My concern is that Bin Ladens followers will now be seeking revenge for his killing and the evil genius minds that went to work on 9/11 are possibly still at large. His death may well send out the message that terrorism will not be tolerated and that there is ultimately no place to hide for the perpetrators, but given the fanaticism of his followers and their belief that death is not to be feared I am worried.

Although this same person apparently hid behind a woman when he realised that ultimate justice was about to be served.
That made me laugh - the man who sent his followers to die in the ultimate act of sacrifice and supposed martyrdom trying to shield himself from a bullet with his wife.
Coward.

The world can increase security measures and military intelligence become ever more sophisticated, and in doing so we may ensure that nothing like 9/11 can ever happen again, but what if they were to get their hands on a nuclear weapon.
The thought of retaliation would not worry them - a deterrent is of no use if your opponent does not fear the consequences.

I am also slightly irritated by the way a lot of news coverage is taking the line that Obama killed Osama.
Really ?
At what point in the military operation was his life at risk ? He might’ve been the one who gave the green light but according to everything I’ve seen he was sat in a nice safe office at the time.
Just as I don’t believe one man was solely responsible for 9/11, nor do I think one man should take the credit for his death and I wonder if in taking onus for it and revelling in the glory of this triumph for America, has Obama actually just moved himself to the top of Al Qaeda’s most wanted.

I suppose he is happy to take credit, given that my understanding is he was looking unlikely to be re-elected and the death of Bin Laden is a cause for celebration for American citizens. Just as they will never forget what was done to their country so they will admire and respect the person who finally brought retribution to the man thought to be responsible.
How about electing the soldier who pulled the trigger ? Surely he or she is far more worthy of that honour then the politician who really just inherited someone else’s problems when he moved into office.

In fact I thought that one of the reasons Obama was elected to power was his promise to remove US troops from Afghanistan when he in fact sent more. I had said at the time that he was running that I thought the comparisons being made between him and Martin Luther King might prove to be wrong.
He sounded more like Malcom X to me.

My hope was that it was not another case of what I called Maggie Thatcher syndrome.
When she was elected prime minister over here there was a general feeling throughout the country that having her in charge of our government would bring about good changes - because she was a woman.
My impression was that America felt the same about Obama, because he was to be the first black president as she was our first female PM, a representation of hope for a better brighter future and change for the good.

But what she was, firstly and foremostly was a politician.
The contents of Maggie’s underwear bore no relation to how she ran this country.
She refused to impose sanctions on apartheid south Africa when the world was up in arms about what was happening there.
She pretty much took away the power of unions in this country that protected workers.
A lot of people say that she did a good thing when she brought in a system that allowed people to buy their local authority owned housing, but as a result of that we now have a housing crisis here.
The yuppie generation, which she was largely responsible for crashed and burned.
She earned the nickname The Iron Lady.
And not because she was great with domestic appliances.

I have to be honest and say that I have very little understanding of or interest in politics. My opinion is really that they are all as bad as each other. As I see it most election campaigns here consist of empty promises and telling us how bad the opposing parties are and I suspect it’s the same across the pond.
But most acts of terrorism in the world are the result of religious differences and carried out in the name of whatever god the perpetrators follow.
And that has little or nothing to do with politics.

The death of one man may be seen as a step towards making the world a safer place. It may be a triumph for America and some closure for victims, survivors and their families.
But the war on terrorism is a long way from over, if it ever really will be.
As long as there are religious fanatics, crazy dictators, warmongers and people willing to buy into whatever nonsense they spout the world will never be truly free from terrorism. You might kill the man but you cannot kill what he stood for or represented to his followers, you might in fact just fan the flames of their beliefs.

That thought worries me.

"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."
Martin Luther King, Jr


Apparently the after life isn't that great after all.

it's all lies

Who the fuck thought up the term Global Warming ?

As a teenager I went through a punk militant phase.

I belonged to the Anti-Nazi League, went on marches against Apartheid, bought Living Marxism magazine, wore a ‘Troops Out’ T-shirt, took food parcels to the women protesting the US Missiles at Greenham Common and joined CND and Greenpeace.

And all whilst wearing Dr Marten boots and dirty hair.

I went to rallys and talks that were relevant to my new found sense of injustice and amongst these were many speakers on the subject of global warming and the state of the planet.

The people giving these talks and TV programmes I watched about it made it sound as if these were issues that were going to affect the planet in many years time.

Not likely to affect me but maybe my grandchildren or great grandchildren.

What grandchildren ? Yeah, I think Son needs to pull the proverbial finger out on that one.



Doesn't England look fab ?

It always sounded far in the future, I suppose they thought it would be.

But as is evident from the sometimes freakish and out of place weather conditions that are becoming all the more prevalent it seems that in fact these changes are occurring now.

There’s a part of me that finds this kind of exciting.
That things I thought would happen after I was long gone are occurring now.

My case is packed...beam me up !

Maybe I shouldn’t give up entirely on my plans for space travel and a transporter room in the spare bedroom just yet.

I wanted this....



However I am also a bit disappointed. Global WARMING ?…..my fucking arse.

I thought the implication of that meant I would get to see out my days living in a tropical country without the hassle of emigrating or having to put the cats through quarantine. And that rising sea levels meant I’d end up in a seaside apartment.

If it meant England was gonna get Caribbean temperatures then chop down all the trees I say.



I got this.....



But no, Global fucking freezing more like.

Whoever thought that name up is a fucking lying bastard.

le racisme, à la française

So I see the French are at it again.

As of today Muslim women are banned from wearing the burqa in public in France.

Break this law and you will get a 150 Euro fine.
Force someone else to wear one and you get a 30.000 Euro fine and a year in jail, this part at least might be a good thing as it might stop the instances that one does hear about where a man mistreats a woman and no-one sees.
But this is France and this law has nothing to do with womens rights.

Since wearing the burqa has religious symbolism to most of those that choose to do so surely banning it is in fact a form of discrimination.

France has already banned the wearing of headscarves in schools since 2004.
How would French Catholics feel if they were told they could no longer wear a crucifix or carry rosary beads ? I’m sure they would say that it’s not the same thing but to those who wear a burqa it means as much.

Many Moslem women oppose the wearing of the burqa but equally many choose to cover themselves.
But that should be their choice based upon what they know about their own culture and not for the white French government to decide.
Or to use as a political issue in the run up to their presidential elections next year.

The official line is that concealing your face undermines France's common values, and is inconsistent with the Republic's principles of liberty, equality and human dignity.
So what about the freedom to practise your chosen religion and be treated equally and fairly regardless of faith ?
Where’s the dignity in being forced to expose any part of your body that you prefer to keep covered ? It’s just another example of the racism that is all too prevalent in French society.

And a rather underhand way of minimising the numbers of Moslem people wanting to emigrate there.
Why anyone would want to live there is beyond me anyway.

There are arguments for this latest piece of bigotry - the same old reasons that get bandied about all the time around public safety. That militants can hide bombs under their clothing and that it makes it impossible to identify people on security cameras.

So are they going to ban people from carrying rucksacks ? I was under the impression that they were the suicide bombers preferred method for transportation.
Surely if anything that makes it difficult to identify a person is unacceptable then they should also ban the sale of wigs, make-up and long dresses, bar men from growing facial hair and maybe wearing peaked caps ?
What about nuns ?

There was a case in the UK where a teacher was fired for refusing to remove her veil when men were present. I can understand the reasons behind this and the requirement to have a visible face for certain types of employment. But it’s acceptable for employers to have dress codes so one would assume that anyone who felt it important to keep covered at all times would not opt to work in a place where the code didn’t allow it.
Just as we can choose to not go to clubs that say no jeans or trainers.

I can see that when it comes to checking passports or legal situations it might be necessary to uncover but there are way that this could be done whilst respecting the dignity of those involved. It’s not that different to my having the right to see a female doctor or if I needed to be searched having that carried out by another woman.

But when it comes to our leisure time surely it’s a matter of personal choice and freedoms ?

If it’s ok to walk about wearing next to nothing why is it not also ok to keep yourself covered ?

For Moslem women keeping covered is also about morals and modesty, things which might not mean much to the French, but without their garments these women would feel naked in public.

Perhaps the French politicians who have brought in this law should be made to walk around with their bollocks hanging out for a day.
See how that makes them feel.

beggars can't be choosers

Sometimes I see things that make me angry.

Today I saw a couple of kids, they were maybe 13/14 laughing at a homeless person.
The guy was sat on the pavement outside a shop. I’ve seen him there quite often, he’s fairly young and whilst he never appears drunk his eyes tell me he has an addiction.

He wasn’t troubling anyone, just asking passers by if they could spare any change. He’s not aggressive and as he’s seated people walking past can easily ignore him.
They do.
At first as I was approaching I thought these kids might’ve been talking to him but as I got closer I could hear what they were saying.

The homeless guy was trying to ignore them.
No doubt if he’d said what he wanted to someone would’ve gotten involved and stuck up for the kids and quite possibly the shop he sits outside would move him on.
Of course I don’t have to worry about any such thing so I asked them what they were doing.

Apparently the homeless guys trainers were ‘crap’, he smelt and was dirty.
And what did it have to do with me ? and why didn’t I just fuck off ?

Nothing. But no, I don’t think I will.

I don’t profess to know which particular brand of trainer are considered fashion this week, but I asked them if they thought that maybe someone who was forced to beg in order to survive didn’t have more important things to worry about then the latest footwear.
Then I gave them a five minute lecture.
And then I asked them if they knew what the time was, one of them told me it was 1.30 so I suggested they get to school which was after all where they should be at that time of the day.
Except I wasn’t that polite.

We don’t have a vast amount of homeless people in this town, there are a couple of charity run shelters that help them. And this guy may not even be homeless, but if he is claiming benefits he might get help with rent and a small amount to live on, but it’s not enough to fund a heroin addiction.
I’m not condoning him for being an addict but who am I to judge anyway.
There could be many reasons why his life has ended up the way it has.

It takes a fair amount of desperation and I imagine courage too to put yourself in a situation where you are likely to be subjected to verbal abuse and run the risk of physical assualt on a daily basis.

Personally I don’t care what anyone says you have to be in a position where you have no other option. except perhaps stealing, to resort to begging on the streets.

I’ve heard the stories about beggars who make decent money doing so, perhaps they do in some towns, London maybe or other big cities but not here.
Whilst a lot of people in that situation do have substance issues it’s not true of all, sometimes I think they end up using as a means of escape from the situation they’re in, and you can end up homeless for many reasons.
I have heard plenty of people say that they would never give money to a beggar because most of them aren’t really homeless and they are only going to spend it on alcohol or drugs.

A couple of years ago I was coming home from work and this day we’d had a party for the kids as it was just before Christmas. There was some food left over, nothing much, some sausage rolls, a few sandwiches and other party snacks and I was taking it home rather then waste it.
As I was coming out of the station there was a couple sat begging.
I don’t ignore anyone, even if all I say is sorry I have no cash I think at least I’m acknowledging they’re there and not invisible.
So I said to these people that I didn’t have any money but I had this bag of food which they could have. They were so grateful, it really took me by surprise and kinda proves the point that not all are begging for money to fund habits.
Sometimes they just need what you and I take for granted.

I often saw them there after that and they never asked me for money but they always said hello.
More then once I gave them my lunch.

I know that there are young people out there who choose to live on the streets because it’s preferable to living at home, and when you’re a 14 year old whose run away you can’t claim benefits or go to an adult shelter. If you’re lucky you’ll find your way to social services, or they’ll find you, but there are still young people who fall through the net and end up involved in very bad situations.
Some don’t want to speak to social services because they are afraid they will be forced to return home or that they will have to prosecute their harmer.
Bearing in mind they’re already scared before they run some would rather take their chances on the street.

I don’t make a habit of giving money to beggars, I tend not to have much cash on me anyway - who does when you can pay for pretty much anything by card, I gave that guy some money today though.

I buy the Big Issue - it’s actually a good read and not full of adverts or crap about celebrities like most magazines.
And I make a monthly donation to Barnados as they work with kids and that’s an issue that matters to me personally.

It’s not a lot and it doesn’t make me a saint but it does help.

Seriously I think there’s something very wrong when a govenrnent spends millions on the defence budget yet charities have to beg for money.

And if you ask me the definition of obscene is the queen living in Buckingham Palace which has over SIX HUNDRED rooms.
When just down the road there are people living in cardboard boxes.

why can't we live together

I went shopping with Son a couple of days ago and there were some people with a promotional stall for paintballing. Son wanted to talk to them so I left him to it whilst I went to another shop. When I came out he had talked the guy into giving him a really good deal - it was their last day there and this was late in the afternoon as well. Son had to go to the cashpoint as the guys running the stall had no card machine so went off to do this and asked me to give the guy his details for the form that needed completing.
I did so then as I was stood there waiting the (South African) fella starts chatting to me,
“so where’s his father from then ?”
“England, but his family are from Jamaica if that’s what you mean”
“oh, right, so was he a drug dealer then?”
“excuse me ? No he fucking wasn’t and why are you asking me that ?”
“well they all are aren’t they”

I walked away, it was either that or give him a large piece of my mind and quite possibly my fist in his face.
And that would’ve been the end of Sons bargain paintball trip .

But seriously. Fuck. Right .Off !

Of course what else can you expect from a white South African ?.
The land of apartheid.
I just have to hear the accent and I cringe.

Slavery was a dark time in the history of Africa, but that was a long time ago, apartheid began in 1943 and was only ended in 1993. South Africa is rich in gold and diamond mines and the white man decided he wanted that. There is still so much poverty amongst the indigenous people of that continent yet the white minority got rich off it’s natural resources.

Anyone who tried to oppose the regime was thrown in jail.
Most people are aware of Nelson Mandela but there were many others and a lot of them, like Steve Biko were beaten to death for voicing their opposition or just belonging to the ANC, then regarded as a terrorist organisation but now the ruling political party.

However, the country as a whole has moved on but you can be sure that there are white people in South Africa who still subscribe to the idea of apartheid.
Its been 178 years since slavery was abolished and black people are still regarded as being lesser then white people by some, so I can’t imagine the entire white population of SA has changed it’s attitude in 20 years.

Racism makes me sick to my stomach.
Whoever it’s directed at .
Currently in England, as with a lot of the world, there is an increased hatred towards Moslems. Ever since 9/11 and the London bombings it’s as if everyone who follows that religion should be assumed to be a terrorist, when in fact most Moslems are peaceful devout people who despise the actions of Al Qaeda as much as everyone else.
Probably more in fact, since they are now having to deal with everyone viewing them with suspicion as a direct result of their actions.

Why do people do that ?
Assume that just because a small minority of one race are bad then the rest must be too.

A few months ago a small group of militant Moslems in London burned poppies - the British symbol of memorial for those who died fighting in wars. The nationwide backlash was awful, even here far away from London a group of people gathered outside our mosque and terrorised people as they were entering and leaving the building. And that included old people, women and children, none of whom had anything to do with what had occurred in London.

The hidden racists are just as bad, the people who don’t think of themselves as being prejudiced yet begin a sentence with the words "I'm not racist but..." I cringe because what’s coming next is usually going to be a statement that without the 'disclaimer' would lead people to think they were.

And to me that just smacks of that thinly veiled latent bigotry that is still all to evident.
The kind of people who say they don’t have a problem with (insert any minority) but they wouldn’t want them to live next door/ date their children.

Or the people who ask why black people wear t-shirts that have slogans that say “proud to be black”. Someone recently commented on this in a forum and asked that very question, then said that if they wore a “proud to be white” t-shirt they would be called a racist. My reply was that If it was a "proud to be gay" t-shirt would a question be posted asking if you were homophobic if you wore a "proud to be straight" t-shirt.
No, of course it wouldn’t.

But then am I proud to be white ?
Not especially no, when most of the extremist groups in the western world are white and use patriotism as a mask for racial hatred.
Truth is white people from first world nations don't need to celebrate our freedoms and privileges because we've had them so long we take them for granted.
Sad then that so many of us still have a problem with the people our ancestors took them away from, and fail to understand why the descendants of those people choose to not forget.
We don’t expect Jewish people to ever forget the holocaust so why do we think black people should forget about slavery.

If you are part of any minority you need to shout louder and longer to be heard and sometimes even now you have to fight for the same privileges afforded to everyone else.

My Dad was a union man before he retired and told me about a conference he attended. One of the proposals put forward was by a black person who wanted to form a committee for black union members - this was a while ago, and black people were still discriminated against in the workplace, albeit in a very underhand manner. Dad had seen instances where a black person was overlooked for promotion or sacked for a reason that was clearly nonsense, as shop steward it had been his job to defend them.

Most of the white people in attendance were opposed to the idea.
Of course they didn't want this to happen - from a union point of view as a committee they would then have powers in their own right when it came to tribunals and the like, but their only argument against it was that if they said they wanted a white members only committee it would be deemed racist.
Not that they needed a white committee, since the white members would always get the majority in any vote.
Dad said there was no objections a few years earlier when they had done the same for female union members, no-one had objected and said they would be accused of being sexist if they had wanted a male only committee.
You see what I’m saying ?

It would be nice to think that one day we could live in a world where people are just people, and whether they are good or bad is about them or a group that they affiliate with, but not the colour of their skin, religion, race, sexuality or gender.
If we could celebrate our differences instead of being scared of them and give up on the stereotypes.

But sadly it still happens, and people that love to hate will find any excuse to do so.
If someone different to your particular group that you identify with breaks into your house and steals your belongings, it seems its perfectly acceptable to then hate everyone else from their group.
But if a white person is burgled by another white person do you then hate all white people ?
I doubt it.

In the seventies that was happening here towards Irish people.
The IRA were planting bombs so every Irish person was a terrorist. That idea is still quite common amongst some English people, even though the IRA and Sinn Fein have now moved into the political arena, it’s just a shame that people had to die for them to achieve the right for their opinions to be heard.
Much like the ANC.

I saw an Irish stand up on TV a while ago saying that he thought the Irish people owed Moslems a favour because nowadays everyone was so busy hating them they had finally started to like the Irish.

Sometimes as much as I fear the idea of an event that threatens the planet as a whole, I think that’s what it’s going to take to get the human race to pull together.

If we all depended on each other for survival would we finally forget the things that divide us ?

If everyone had nothing would we finally all be equal.