The Weasel is moving from Weasel Hall to somewhere a bit bigger. Moving is not something I enjoy, but we have run out of space. No, I don't have a cupboard full of waffle makers that I never use, but I have accumulated an industrial quantity of wires and boxes associated with internet providers, and my collection of shrunken heads and Babylonian Nose Flutes must be kept in climate controlled conditions. Also, my various musical management activities are gaining momentum and I have to concentrate on them, including, if I am very lucky, a visit to Nashville.
Yesterday, I was told I was likely to live a little longer. I had to visit a specialist in Edinburgh who sent me away with a flea in my ear over a minor but suspicious skin colouring that had got me pondering the meaning of life and making mental notes to tell Mrs Weasel where the stop tap was.
Ageing is largely in the mind, but at 55, my body handles more like a Ford Anglia than a Lamborgini Murcielago.
I could carry on ranting about the Government, but frankly, I have run out of things to say. I could give a running commentary about our move, but that would not exactly make for riveting narrative. I will re-emerge in times of national emergency/surprise but, for the time being, this blog is taking a break. Au Revoir and thank you for reading.
Madonna and Child
Madonna and Child, not the Mother of God, the other one, has just bought a kid for £12m.
The Supreme Court of Malawi overturned an earlier decision to require the well known pole dancer and singer to live in the shithole for 18 months before being able to adopt, after she paid out £12million to fund orphanages.
Hey. Just look in your own back yard darling. There is plenty of poverty in this country and you can line up and have to get the approval of the interfering bumptious tossers who farm out kids to those who satisfy their politically correct credentials. They even do them in black.
But hey, black is still the new black, and there is a kind of artistic cachet about rescuing something so exotic, from somewhere that has never heard of you, and changing its life. Clearly this is the must have accessory this year. Cartier watches are sooo chavvy.
The Supreme Court of Malawi overturned an earlier decision to require the well known pole dancer and singer to live in the shithole for 18 months before being able to adopt, after she paid out £12million to fund orphanages.
Hey. Just look in your own back yard darling. There is plenty of poverty in this country and you can line up and have to get the approval of the interfering bumptious tossers who farm out kids to those who satisfy their politically correct credentials. They even do them in black.
But hey, black is still the new black, and there is a kind of artistic cachet about rescuing something so exotic, from somewhere that has never heard of you, and changing its life. Clearly this is the must have accessory this year. Cartier watches are sooo chavvy.
Cuts? What Cuts?
I find it risible that Gordon Brown (you, know, the mad, unelected cyclops who ruins that country - that one) never says "spending". He says "Cuts" when referring to the Tory budget plans. No. Brown never says "spending", he says "investing in public services". Call me a stuffy old pedant, but to me, that means "spending".
This cutting v spending debate is a farce. What is wrong with trimming down this top heavy government? Don't they know, that we know, spending = taxes? More taxation, on top of the multiple layers of taxation, the eye-watering levels of taxation we enjoy.
We are over governed and over taxed, but I must let Matthew Parris have the last word, from his column in Today's Times:
Tonight Matthew, I will be drinking to you.
This cutting v spending debate is a farce. What is wrong with trimming down this top heavy government? Don't they know, that we know, spending = taxes? More taxation, on top of the multiple layers of taxation, the eye-watering levels of taxation we enjoy.
We are over governed and over taxed, but I must let Matthew Parris have the last word, from his column in Today's Times:
Why does Australia - not a country one thinks of as repressive, brutal or fascist - manage with a proportionally much smaller public sector?
As the Labour Party implodes, Conservatives should start getting back on to the front foot on the role of the State. It may not only be a matter of “admitting” that governments will “have to” cut spending to reduce debt. It may be time, not just to defend the economic necessity of cheaper government in straitened times, but to assert the moral superiority of smaller government at all times.
Tonight Matthew, I will be drinking to you.
Muslims rig elections - "it's what we do"
It is now fairly clear that the fair and free election in Iran has been nothing of the sort. With the usual characteristics of such a travesty, such as suspension of cyber communications, incredibly "high" turn outs, bannings of the opposition and a lack of independent verification. The opponents of the man in a dinner jacket are crying "fraud".
Perhaps Shahid "Two Wreaths" Malik would like to comment on whether this turn of events represented
"religious and cultural norms in the Muslim community"
Given the fact that most of the vote rigging scandals in this country have been perpetrated by others of the Muslim faith, I am tempted to suggest it does.
Perhaps Shahid "Two Wreaths" Malik would like to comment on whether this turn of events represented
"religious and cultural norms in the Muslim community"
Given the fact that most of the vote rigging scandals in this country have been perpetrated by others of the Muslim faith, I am tempted to suggest it does.
Patti Pravo interviews the "Downfall" guy
If you wondered who does all those "Downfall" videos, wonder no more. Patti Pravo interviews Helmut Whateverhisnameis, on KYFO TV
Malik plays the Muslim card - now why does that not surprise me?
Shahid Malik, one of Gordon Brown's cabinet appointees, one from an increasingly desperate bunch of unelected, disgraced, fuckwits, has now been revealed to have cited "religious and cultural norms in the Muslim community" in relation to the investigation into his expenses.
According to the Telegraph: (Sir Philp Mawer wrote in response to Malik's submission)
He added: "It is unfortunate, particularly given his public position, that, in respect of that house, Mr Malik did not think of obtaining at the outset a rental agreement specifying in writing the rent to be paid," Sir Philip said.
"He then entered into an arrangement to pay part of the rent in cash, for which payments (name of the property company) did not give him any receipt.
"I understand the point Mr Malik makes about the influence on him of religious and cultural norms in the Muslim community relating to payments made in cash, but the absence of a rental agreement and of receipts meant that he was left without a clear audit trail to show the payments he had made."
Well, Mister Malik. You live in Great Britain. The cutural norm here is to act in accordance with the moral and legal requirements pertaining to your office as a public servant. Playing the Muslim card just wont wash.
A simple desultory Philippic
The wise are instructed by reason, average minds by experience, the stupid by necessity and the brute by instinct.
I write now because I suppose that the events of the last few weeks have reached a plateau. We have been helpless bystanders watching the slow car crash that is the end of Labour, and like the Roman Empire, it has imploded for pretty much the same reasons; it has over-extended itself fiscally, it has colonised the political narrative to the detriment of those of other political pursuasions and world views who would, quite reasonably, be expected to show tacit allegiance - had they felt that this was a project with noble aspirations - and it has fallen sway to those who are in government but not in power. The final years of the Roman Empire were characterised by marriages of convenience and assassinations. Brown hangs on merely, with an instinct for survival and nothing more.
The arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and assistance to foreign hands should be curtailed, lest Rome fall.
Much has bee made of the emergence of the BNP, after they gained two seats in the European elections. I don't know about you, but it seems to me that there is something deeply disingenuous about the way members of main stream parties are queueing up to posture and pose and rant about how terrible this is - as if the BNP has somehow crept up on them and delivered a surprise knock-out. This of course, is not true. Everyone has seen it coming because everyone realises that the issues that the BNP campaigned on are being ignored by those we have elected to protect our country.
True glory takes root, and even spreads; all false pretences, like flowers, fall to the ground; nor can any counterfeit last long.
What of our present leaders? Well, for a start, not a lot of them have the benefit of a public mandate. I think of Gordon Brown, Peter Mandelson and others, who are there by virtue of their own Machiavellian mendacity, and not, the ballot box. Hypocritical then, for them to scream "anti-democracy" when the hoi-polloi show disdain for the low moan spectacular of MPs who are leaving in disgrace because of their over enthusiastic use of expenses.
What then is freedom? The power to live as one wishes.
Of the all the interviews on College Green and all the commentators with their agendas flying high, none have mentioned what I think is the reason UKIP did so well. We were denied a referendum on the EU treaty, that is why they did so well. It is not rocket science to figure that a party that campaigns on leaving the EC is the focus of the majority in this country who wish to do just that, but were lied to and fobbed off. The pundits would prefer to go with the "protest" vote line. Well, I voted UKIP and although, yes it was a protest, I genuinely feel cheated about the promised referendum that never was about my freedom to determine my future.
A word finally about the SNP. They have consolidated their power base beyond the stated expectations of the SNP leadership. I shall return to the fold at the next election and support them. In a year's time, Labour will be irrelevant in Scotland and those, like Tom Harris, now fully understand how serious that is.
Hatreds not vowed and concealed are to be feared more than those openly declared.
Tom was one of the few who had the guts to stand up and say the truth to the face of the Prime Minister. Sadly, he is isolated and now has the mark of Cain, along with the other suspects. Instead of being the agent of change, he, like others with his convictions, will be swept away in the ugly last grasp of power.
(All quotations: Marcus Tullius Cicero. The irony of Cicero is that he believed in the Republic that finally and brutally disposed of him)
"The politicians of his time, he believed, were corrupt and no longer possessed the virtuous character that had been the main attribute of Romans in the earlier days of Roman history. This loss of virtue was, he believed, the cause of the Republic's difficulties." http://www.iep.utm.edu/c/cicero.htm
We Used to Know
Just some memories. A little self-indulgent perhaps. The soundtrack is a great song, accompanied by a snapshot of a story about desultory things I recall about the past. I enjoyed doing it, and I hope you enjoy watching it.
Ryanair to charge for oxygen masks and lifebelts
Michael O'Leary, CEO of the budget airline, Ryanair, has announced the latest cost addition to passengers. From Monday 15th June, all passengers must pay for the use of oxygen masks and lifebelts, which are used in the event of an in-flight emergency.
This comes in the wake of a raft of extras that Ryanair passengers already have to pay, such as coin operated lavatories and a "Fat Premium" for larger passengers and a plan to operate load-it-yourself luggage handling.
Passengers flying with the low-cost carrier will be obliged to tick a box on the online sales site, to buy the use of oxygen masks in the event of a sudden decompression in cabin pressure. Also, life jackets will be available for a standard charge of £2.50 each way, plus an extra £1 if you want auto inflation and an EPIRB, the satellelite location transmitter.
Mr O'Leary said in a recent interview, "We don't sell peace of mind, we sell cheap flights. If people worry about this sort of thing, then they are going to have to pay".
Weasel gets read at the HOC
Just so that you know, Weasel has detected that his blog is being read by folks at the House of Commons. Thank you for looking in. Any bits of gossip are guaranteed to be utterly confidential.
Dim Prawnarolo
Dawn Primarolo has been watching the Labour Meltdown in Bristol, a place I was unfortunate enough to live in once; it's a hotbed of political correctness and the great unwashed. Plus, Bristolians are possibly the nastiest people on the planet and would not piss on a puppy if it was on fire, but get out their mobile phones to video it.
She gets the "nah nah nah, I'm not listening" quote of the day:
“But from speaking to people on the doorstep, as I have, it’s quite clear that people are saying we’ve got a Prime Minister who’s got strength, determination and intelligence and Gordon Brown will lead us out of this recession.”
This vacuous muscle of a woman cannot engage her brain, and there is talk of promoting her. Desperate times indeed. John Reid must have been very drunk indeed.
Caroline Flint
A good friend and Fleet Street journalist went to a private view of an exhibition of photographs of leading politicians. As she stood in front of the picture of Caroline Flint, she remarked, to a colleague, (not that quietly) "You can see her moustache" My friend turned around to be confronted with none other than the lady herself.
Flint has always struck me, as a piece of work. Nothing I can put my finger on, but I get "bitch" every time she speaks or appears.
I now hear that she has deserted the girlie cabal of Hazel the Chipmunk and others to further her ambition. It has been reported that she has cut adrift from the pack and is now giving very pro-Gordon Brown soundbites, in the hope of getting a high profile job in the impending Cabinet Reshuffle. If this is true, she has really shot herself in the foot. Her maximum tenure in any job is going to be 12 months. Thereafter, she will be forever tainted with the Brown era and her political career, such as it is, will be over.
Desperation and Ambition. Isn't she lovely. Let's hope she has laid in a good supply of bleach. Or wax.
UPDATE:
Pictures Added, inspired by Tory Totty. Come on, Tots, send us a pic and I will blog it! Strapworld. mm.
UPDATE 2:
Flint throws a right strop. Did not get the job she wanted and now is full of piss and vinegar: "Brown treated me as female window dressing". Well Caroline honey, I never saw Jack Straw posing on a couch in fuck-me shoes, and you took your time to say that.
Anyway, sweetie, don't worry your pretty little head. You have a great future on I'm a has been, get me out of here.
PS: Men, wanking to the above picture will result in a perma ban from WWW.
Brown's Fake Tractor Statistics
One of the things that annoys me about Prime Minister's Question Time is the way in which Gordon Brown regularly throws out what are now known in some quarters (in a reference to the old Soviet propaganda days) at Tractor Stats.
Brown regularly lies and falsifies these figures or merely, makes them up. Nobody ever seems to challenge these. For example; "We are lifting children out of poverty" a phrase he regularly uses, and today was no exception. According to official figures, Labour has failed in its keystone policy of abolishing child poverty and the facts are that they have not made a dent in it. In 2002 Brown boasted that Labour had lifted 1.2 million children out of poverty (what this means I really do not know) but the BBC were reporting the figure was nearer half a million. So, a doubling of the actual figure. More than doubling. In March, 2007, The Independent reported
And in May this year the same paper declared,
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/labours-record-on-poverty-in-tatters-1681047.html
Sadly, Cameron, who I thought was under par today, never picked him up on it.
Some of you may have read this post which blows the gaff on the Car Scrappage Scheme. Today in PMQs, Brown listed "35 thousand" motorists have been helped by this scheme". In reality, that means that the Government has given out a grand total of £35,000 - rather less than an average MPs faked expenses - and God knows how much this fiasco has cost to set up. I dare say £35,000 wouldn't cover Peter Mandelson's travel and lunch expenses incurred in having meetings with motor manufacturers.
So what is the purpose of reeling off these lists? You do not need to delve very far to see how specious most of them are. Is it supposed to make Gordon Brown look successful and statesmanlike?
I leave the last word to Shaun Woodward, the Northern Ireland Secretary who tonight on Newsnight, commenting on the Prime Minister's performance at PMQs, said
"Gordon Brown is a man at the top of his game."
Brown regularly lies and falsifies these figures or merely, makes them up. Nobody ever seems to challenge these. For example; "We are lifting children out of poverty" a phrase he regularly uses, and today was no exception. According to official figures, Labour has failed in its keystone policy of abolishing child poverty and the facts are that they have not made a dent in it. In 2002 Brown boasted that Labour had lifted 1.2 million children out of poverty (what this means I really do not know) but the BBC were reporting the figure was nearer half a million. So, a doubling of the actual figure. More than doubling. In March, 2007, The Independent reported
"Child poverty has increased for the first time in six years, prompting fears that ministers will miss their target of halving the number of children living in poverty by 2010. The statistics are a huge setback for Labour and were described by charity Barnados as "a moral disgrace"
And in May this year the same paper declared,
"The full scale of Labour's failure to help the poorest in Britain was laid bare yesterday with revelations that hundreds of thousands of people were being plunged into deprivation even before the recession hit, and that the Government had been unable to make any impression on the numbers of children and pensioners in poverty." (The Independent)
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/labours-record-on-poverty-in-tatters-1681047.html
Sadly, Cameron, who I thought was under par today, never picked him up on it.
Some of you may have read this post which blows the gaff on the Car Scrappage Scheme. Today in PMQs, Brown listed "35 thousand" motorists have been helped by this scheme". In reality, that means that the Government has given out a grand total of £35,000 - rather less than an average MPs faked expenses - and God knows how much this fiasco has cost to set up. I dare say £35,000 wouldn't cover Peter Mandelson's travel and lunch expenses incurred in having meetings with motor manufacturers.
So what is the purpose of reeling off these lists? You do not need to delve very far to see how specious most of them are. Is it supposed to make Gordon Brown look successful and statesmanlike?
I leave the last word to Shaun Woodward, the Northern Ireland Secretary who tonight on Newsnight, commenting on the Prime Minister's performance at PMQs, said
"Gordon Brown is a man at the top of his game."
Tomorrow I shall be voting UKIP
This will be an election to vote for an MEP. My stance on Europe is that we should be out of it. The EU is wasteful, corrupt and does not serve our interests, it serves its own.
But the main reasons I shall vote UKIP are twofold: firstly, we were denied a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty - having been lied to in the Labour Manifesto, and secondly, I wish to send a message to the main parties that I am very angry indeed that you have all had your snouts in the trough, and in particular, that we are led in this country by a man who should never have gained the office of Prime Minister.
If the result of the Euro Election helps to get rid of Brown, it will be the icing on the cake.
That's me.
I am not asking you to do likewise, but please, get off your arses and go out tomorrow and vote.
But the main reasons I shall vote UKIP are twofold: firstly, we were denied a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty - having been lied to in the Labour Manifesto, and secondly, I wish to send a message to the main parties that I am very angry indeed that you have all had your snouts in the trough, and in particular, that we are led in this country by a man who should never have gained the office of Prime Minister.
If the result of the Euro Election helps to get rid of Brown, it will be the icing on the cake.
That's me.
I am not asking you to do likewise, but please, get off your arses and go out tomorrow and vote.
Brown really is toast now
With the departure of rather a lot of Gordon Brown's Government, the latest being the Chipmunk, Hazel Blears, timed to do maximum damage - two hours before PMQs, I am making the prediction that Gordon Brown, the unelected, madman, will be gone by Monday at the latest.
He may want to "get on with the job of running the country" but by Friday, he may not have any mates left willing to do it, and I don't think we are quite at the stage where Britain is prepared to be ruled by a single dictator.
Today's Prime Minister's Questions in the Commons, is going to be a stonker.
He may want to "get on with the job of running the country" but by Friday, he may not have any mates left willing to do it, and I don't think we are quite at the stage where Britain is prepared to be ruled by a single dictator.
Today's Prime Minister's Questions in the Commons, is going to be a stonker.
private mail
From time to time, I get emails from reader of my blog, and also from those who see my comments elsewhere. Mostly they are fairly pleasant, and for the record, I enjoy corresponding with anyone who bothers to do this.
But occasionally I get the kind of mail that is critical. The usual trigger is my stance on Foxes. Regular readers will know that I keep chickens. A recent critic thought I was stupid to allow them to free-range, which I always thought was a rather decent way of life for them. Foxes are a menace and frankly, I do not have time for those who get hysterical about fox hunting. These emails are usually badly written and tend to say more about anti-hunt people than I ever could.
Here is one I got today:
(I have no wish to expose this person, so their name has been removed)
Well, the pro-hunting lobby (which by the way, I have no links to whatsoever) do not send poisoned mail, send criminal pornography to employees, injure infants, de-capitate people with gyrocopter blades or exhume grannies, or do much more than go about their lawful pursuits.
When it comes to the moral high ground, and dare I say intelligence, I think those who hunt and kill foxes have the upper hand, and until the animal rights stinkies campaign on the issues, rather than by terrorism, they always will.
But occasionally I get the kind of mail that is critical. The usual trigger is my stance on Foxes. Regular readers will know that I keep chickens. A recent critic thought I was stupid to allow them to free-range, which I always thought was a rather decent way of life for them. Foxes are a menace and frankly, I do not have time for those who get hysterical about fox hunting. These emails are usually badly written and tend to say more about anti-hunt people than I ever could.
Here is one I got today:
(I have no wish to expose this person, so their name has been removed)
Hey Wrinkled Weasel, So you keep chickens eh! Well my sister and her partner keep chickens, ducks and geese [all pets] and have never lost any to a fox - just one [a bantam] to a Pine Martin.
Do you eat your own birds Mr Weasel? If so, then you're an out and out hypocrite, like all those other ignorant idiots on the blog.
Plus if you knew anything about foxes, you'd know they weren't remotely vermin. They only come on heat for three days a year, plus only one vixen in an entire family will be allowed to mate with the dog fox.
Anyway, I don't why I'm writing to you, people like you are too thick to know any better, which is why I pity the poor animals.
Kind Regards,
Well, the pro-hunting lobby (which by the way, I have no links to whatsoever) do not send poisoned mail, send criminal pornography to employees, injure infants, de-capitate people with gyrocopter blades or exhume grannies, or do much more than go about their lawful pursuits.
When it comes to the moral high ground, and dare I say intelligence, I think those who hunt and kill foxes have the upper hand, and until the animal rights stinkies campaign on the issues, rather than by terrorism, they always will.
The Knife Man cometh
Woke up this mornin' Knife man at my door,
Used to think the real world not like this anymore.
Have you got a knife? The knife man say
I'm a thinkin' like I don't wanna die today.
So I say yes, I got a knife, so what's the deal?
A Roe deer's been hit on the road he says
And have you got a steel?
So he gets the knife and I'm still alive
I got the blues but I'm tryin to survive.
Country living is a daily round of seeing life and death. Somebody cared enough to make sure a horribly injured creature was dispatched humanely. Most fuckers can't bear to think that chicken nuggets come from chicken.
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