Dogs, Horses, Pigs and Other Animals

The BNP have had a bit of a kicking today. Not that they would agree. Firstly, their much trumpeted 'celebrity' candidate, Angela Reid, daughter of Eastenders actor Mike, has decided not to stand as a candidate for the odious zealots. The Mirror carries the story:

• Angela Reid cold-shouldered the far-right political party shortly before the midday deadline for nominations.

  Her sudden withdrawal will be a huge blow to the BNP, which had been boasting about hooking up with Mrs Reid because of her celebrity links. Her husband said yesterday: "She has cancelled her candidacy because she is Mike Reid's daughter and people would call her a Nazi and slag her off."

  The BNP has been desperately trying to rebrand itself in recent years as a respectable political party and play down its Neo-Nazi sympathies.

As Simon 'pretty much' Darby explained on his blog of bilge here,

• Last week I indicated that after the brother of England football legend Stuart Pearce, Dennis was revealed to have stood for the BNP on the London Assembly list by the Sunday People, there would be another relative of a household name who would be standing as a candidate.

• Speaking to Angela today, she sounds like an excellent candidate with a lot to say about where this country is going wrong.

The Mirror fails to mention - so kudos to the Mail for once - that Mike Reid and wife were living in Marbella, Spain at the time of his death. The Sun helpfully educates its dim readers to the fact that General Franco (or FranKo as they pun) came from Spain!

Sounds like the typical hypocritical ex-pat we hear from in the Mail and Express - how this country is going to the dogs while sipping sangria on the beach. It is not known whether Mike shared his daughter's less-than-t'riffic views on foreigners but Mike was unlikely to say on children's TV show, Runaround, G-G-G-G-G-G-GO BACK TO WHERE YOU CAME FROM.

Secondly, Simon '2 Wardrobes' Darby was a guest on Asian Network where he refused to accept that presenter Yasmeen Khan, born in Yorkshire, was a native Englishwoman. The conversation can be listened to in the UK on the BBCi site at Nihal at about 30 minutes in. It should be available for 7 days. I'll hopefully have time to transcribe some of it later.

When I heard Obama seemingly refer to Sarah Palin with the 'lipstick on a pig' gibe (as McCain seemingly did with Hilary Clinton) I immediately thought of the oft-quoted BNP mantra as seen on their official site -

• viii. Do you accept or deny that blacks/Asians born in Britain are totally British?

  People are partly the product of their environment, but mainly of their genes. Spike Milligan and Joanna Lumley were born in India – do you think they are Indians? It was the Duke of Wellington who said that just because someone is born in a stable that doesn’t make him a horse.

THIS IS THE REAL BNP.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

The Cooke Retort

There was quite an entertaining debate on this vanity site, I mean blog, regarding Cllr Chris Cooke's slight misunderstanding of a Daily Mail story about hedgehogs. He's another one of those people who don't so much speed-read as sprint past Usain Bolt taking in the headline only before posting their carefully researched words of wisdom.

Nothing too serious, of course, until you realise that this person is an elected local politician. He is supposed to make decisions and read long, detailed documents. No wonder he's friends to the clever people of the BNP as evidenced by the Einstein-like Richard Barnbrook.

The Daily Mail has a strange obsession with the rights of car owners and in particular, the demon speed cameras. Barely a week goes by without the paper allowing its readers the chance to vent their spleen if not their exhaust fumes on stories such as,

"New motorway speed camera blitz means thousands more will face fines" ,
"Indestructible, the speed camera that will defy bombs and bulldozers",
"Speed camera earns £5000 an hour"

The Mail has a symbiotic relationship with many of its readers; they feed off the constant harping on about stealth taxes whilst the paper gets kudos for fighting for the poor motorist. Even behaviour that would normally set Mail-ites gnashing collective teeth such as law-breaking, vandalism and non-payment of taxes is seemingly condoned.

Whilst a lot of us were gazing in awe at the Spider Spectacle of La Princesse, Liverpool was hosting the BA Festival of Science. One of the debates to come out of that was one led by Dr Linda Mountain of Liverpool University on empirical analysis of road safety statistics relating to speed cameras. Unfortunately, I was not present so am not sure how the actual talk went. However, using the Mail as a source (Yeh, I know!) we do see that,

• Speed cameras have saved far fewer lives than the Government claims, a study shows.

She continues,

'If accidents fall dramatically after the cameras are in place, it could be that the cameras have reduced accidents, but some of the fall may simply show that a run of bad luck has come to an end,' Dr Mountain told the British Association science festival in Liverpool.

'The problem is that, although some parts of the road network are undoubtedly more dangerous than others, there is also a degree of randomness in where accidents occur.'

Anyone who has studied Statistics to A Level will understand the concept of the regression to the mean. I was crap at science as my record in the local Quiz League shows, so I do not wish to go into greater detail for fear of making a prat of myself. However, suffice to say, Dr Mountain is NOT suggesting that the cameras are a waste of time or that they do NOT save lives. It seems to me that it is difficult top be as accurate as say with seat belt safety as we are dealing with actual accidents rather than potential ones.

It is hard to quantify. Perhaps a cheaper solution would be to attach flowers to railings as this tends to have the effect of making drivers slow down. In Greece, I noticed little candles in miniature shrines on winding coastal roads. Similarly it is possible to argue that other factors such as bad driving and even slow speeds can be more of a danger to pedestrians and other road users, but that's a debate for another day.

The important bit comes at the end of David Derbyshire's piece:

• 'The big difference is that when you allow for the regression to mean effect, you find a 19 per cent reduction in accidents and serious accidents,' she said.

  'I believe that cameras do reduce accidents, but not quite as much as is claimed.'

  Officially, cameras are acknowledged as saving around 100 lives a year. But Dr Mountain believes the true figure is 'around 50'.

The article brings the usual petrolheads out of their pits:

• The damn things probably cause more accidents than they prevent, as drivers brake suddenly on seeing one, and get shunted up the rear.

  - David Bourke, Rochester, Kent., 9/9/2008 16:48

So, not driving at the correct distance from the car ahead is permissable and if there is an accident, it's the fault of the camera. Interesting interpretation of the Road Traffic Accident by David.

• They're talking about 50 lives in the whole of the country, a population of roughly 65 million. Chances are if they didn't die on the roads, they'd have died of MRSA in a filthy hospital, or been stabbed by a drunken yob.
  
  If the money taxed from drivers by speed cameras was used to clean up hospitals or put more police on the streets, you may have had an argument...

  - Sick of Lie-bour, Reading, 9/9/2008 17:03

50 lives? Worthless! Totally logical argument about MRSA and murder on the streets. Imagine trying to debate with this tosser. Even thinks making an unoriginal pun on Labour will be seen as funny.

• Of course they havent.. these machines are cash cows nothing less.

  - Jacqui Weems, Southampton, 9/9/2008 18:43

No show without punch-drunk Jacqui. This is the woman who berates the Government on education but can't seem to grasp apostrophe use or grammar.

• - Charlie, Nottingham, 9/9/2008 18:58

I put that one in because often posters say nothing, but Charlie actually manages it literally.

BUT the Eric The Fish Award For Being Certain Without Evidence goes to our friend Cllr Chris for this gem:

• Actually the "experts" are NOT saying Speed Cameras have saved only half the lives. In fact they are not saying Speed Cameras have saved any lives at all. They were just expressing a BELIEF that speed cameras may have saved some lives - but far fewer than claimed by Government. For myself I am quite certain that the sum total of speed camera madness over the years has actually cost more lives. A recent report in one country without speed cameras claimed a 40% reduction in accidents - so what was that attributable to? Could it be that speed cameras can actually cause accidents and negate the positive effects of better car and road engineering over the years? Not to mention not having proper policing of our roads with people with an eyes and a brain to detect the real dangerous drivers on the roads. The whole speed camera thing was a scam - they should be scrapped.

  - Cllr Chris Cooke, Tamworth, UK., 9/9/2008 19:41

CCC has a dig at the 'experts' though does not seem to possess many qualifications in that field himself. Anyone who has survived the hallucinogenic journey through his own garish website will know that he doesn't visit medical doctors due to some conspiracy and only the real facts can be found on Google!

Still, he shows he's read some of the article this time - perhaps checking that no New Zealand hedgehogs were harmed during the study -and makes a semantic point about what the study's findings are. However, he makes the 'weaker candidate' error of suggesting that there is a difference between 'saying' and (saying what your) 'belief' (based on the evidence of the study) is.

He then makes it clear that, 'For myself I am quite certain that the sum total of speed camera madness over the years has actually cost more lives.'

Keep up the good work Agent Cooke. You and Barnbrook are doing a fine job of bringing ridicule to the BNP.

Post Script: Dr. Mountain was on Radio Merseyside this afternoon confirming that the study found that lives are saved; the only argument is with Government figures.

A Twinning Exercise

This story is either a manipulative attempt to blag free nappies from Tesco, typically shit journalism from The Daily Mail, or a combination of both.

Twin Girls born either side of midnight to be split up in school....

The two girls - named Lexus and Amber - (maybe the parents had just bought the Jeremy Clarkson Book of Baby Names: Fact!) were born on 31st August and 1st September. The school term commences on September 1st.

• [This name game is becoming quite popular as Iris Hurst, born on the back seat of an Audi, was named in honour of the Toyota Yaris.]

The twins story is unusual maybe, but normally the kind of filler that would make page 7 of the local free sheet opposite a review of Bobbins Bistro. Indeed, the Northampton Chronicle has the story. Whilst it mentions the parents' desire to ensure they are taught together, the paper appears to employ a decent sub-editor as it headlines it, Twins Born a School Year Apart.

The story continues in The Mail:

• But the possibility they will be separated for much of their formative years is already hanging over the pair - and all because they were born either side of midnight.

  The girls were born just 45 minutes apart on the the night of August 31, but one arrived before it officially became September 1 and one after.

• Mr Caldwell, who is also a twin, said they would teach the girls at home or move to Spain if they cannot start school together.

• 'My family live in Spain and they have a different academic year so we'd rather move out there than split up the twins,' his girlfriend added. .

This may seem reasonable; two new parents concerned about the future. But wait, what does the local authority charged with deciding on such education issues, Northamptonshire County Council say:

• A spokesman said: 'We will need to look into this nearer the time Lexus and Amber are due to start school as part of their overall application for a school place.

  'Any decision made will be in the best interests of both children as well as taking into consideration the wishes of the parents.'

So, the denouement arrives and all is not as it appeared. No need to disappear to Spain just yet. Surely, not a simple exercise in creating a drama out of nothing in order to bash public servants.

Fortunately, even the Mail commentators see through the charade:

• By the time these little girls are actually of school age, common sense will surely prevail. There is no law forcing a 4 year old to attend school anyway and the simple solution would be for both girls to start together albeit a school year later. If limited school places are the issue then approaching the local authority about this in good time will ensure the twins are schooled together.

  - LKP, Fleet, 9/9/2008 11:02

• They haven't even spoken to their Local Education Authority yet, so are rather jumping the gun.

  - Libby, London, UK, 9/9/2008 12:12

However, there are the usual headline readers who just don't get it:

• Does this New Dis-United Kingdom not have any common sense left as everything is down to figures and statistics?
  
  Brianless Britian is really going down the drain as we seem to have have lost our grey matter in all the corruption of this past decade.

  - Penny Ward, Harpenden UK, 9/9/2008 10:16

• What else do you expect from this crazy Schooling systems of today at one time twins were always schooled together unless one was brighter than the other but they stated school together. The Northampton Council needs it heads bang together.

  - Richard, England, 9/9/2008 13:43

(Richard's use of spelling and grammar are hardly a shining example of the education system. Maybe he was born on February 29th and only started school a few years ago.)

Now, this may seem a trivial matter to moan about. However, the Mail has form for this sort of thing. Time after time, the headline bears no relation to the facts of the story or even the actual text contained thereafter. The Mail is not stupid; it knows its demographics.

It also knows that the Press Complaints Commission is a toothless tiger. Take this comment from a complaint upheld this year:

• 'We need to make people sit up and take notice. Leave some packages around Heathrow. That’ll make them take notice'. This remark appeared to be the basis for the front page headline which categorically reported that “Militants will hit Heathrow”, and a sub-headline which said 'Hoax bombs to cause alerts'. Beyond the comments by the ‘man in his late 20s’ – whose status and identity were unclear, as was whether any plan actually emerged – there was no other evidence for these bold claims.

  
  

  This was a matter of concern for the Commission. There was nothing in the headline to indicate to readers the insubstantial basis of the claims. Neither was there adequate qualification in the text of the article.

Despite this, the Mail continues to operate on its usual terms. I do not wish to fetter the freedom of the press, but with this freedom comes responsibility. Failure to act responsibly deserves a stiffer response: a blank front page.

La Princesse - Short Video

Maybe the Taxpayers' Alliance - that self-appointed Tory rentaquote body - would like to tell the thousands of people lining the streets for La Machine's 5 day extravaganza how it was 'an outrageous waste of taxpayers' money' and explain how 'Who on Earth would want their hard-earned cash spent on a mechanical spider? It's bonkers,' does not make them look foolish.

Maybe, people reading their widespread musings in the national press will think twice about the motives and methodology of their 'research.'

If the T.A had their way, very little tax would be paid and very little would be spent on social projects or art, and these areas would only be available for the rich and privileged. People and organisations are entitled to opinions on public funding of such matters, and not everyone considers Damian Hirst to be the equal of Rembrandt, but it is time that newspapers stopped filling articles with glib, ill-thought out comments from axe-grinders like the T.A. and Migrationwatch.

As I've said before, one only has to look at the profiles of members on their own site to see their political bias.

La Princesse in Liverpool - Saturday

La Princesse in Liverpool - Day 2

One of the photos from yesterday has made the BBC website! On the Your Pictures section.

Gordon the Spider

I was accompanied to Liverpool City Centre to see the attempts by French scientists to take the spider that invaded us in our year of culture, by the senior member of Mother and Child Quiz Team (3 weeks without a win) and what should happen? Gordon ' I support another Rovers' Brown should turn up. Your intrepid photographer was totally taken in by the serious-looking people outside St George's Hall with wires extending outside their ears. I thought they were either looking for a dodgy guy on a grassy knoll, or being told the answers in countdown.

I noticed a few people with elongated lenses but I just thought they were pleased to see me. I went on a 10 minute sojourn to glimpse the spider being put on a truck. Upon my return I realised the real reason for this multi-million pound extravaganza: get Eric The Fish away from the P.M.

I came back, only to be informed by the leader of the once-unbeatable Mother and Child Quiz Team that Gordon had been and gone. 'Did you say anything to him?', I ventured.
'I asked him what he was going to do about the arachnid problem', she may have replied.

Anyway, I hope to put some photos up on here and Flickr as the story unfolds.

FLICKR FOTOS HERE

Of course, there are moaners on parade too. Step forward the self-appointed party poopers of the Taxpayers' Alliance, who seem to get quoted in newspapers more often these days. In the Mail article referred to in the previous post, they end the story with this piece of gloom,

• The TaxPayers' Alliance has called the artwork an 'outrageous waste of taxpayers' money'.
  

  Spokesman Matthew Sinclair said: 'Who on Earth would want their hard-earned cash spent on a mechanical spider? It's bonkers.'

Not as bonkers as you lot, mate. It may be a load of hydraulics but the T.A. are a load of bollocks.
This is the same group (about 3 of them) that says of a proposed windfall tax on the profits of the energy companies:

• A windfall tax is the last thing Britain needs during these tough economic times.

• A windfall tax would also be a huge risk to families struggling under the credit crunch because utility companies would be under a lot of pressure to pass the cost of the tax straight on to consumers.

Great logic! Don't prod the spider or it may bite you; if it does it's your own fault.

The Taxpayers' Alliance, like Migrationwatch is becoming the source of rentaquotes in the right-wing press, but more disconcertingly, in other papers too. The idea is simple: nobody likes paying tax and these experts hope to tap into concerns about central and local Government waste. So who are these self-appointed experts?

• Andrew Allum, Founding Chair
  
  From 1998 to 2002 Andrew served as a Conservative member of Westminster City Council. He left the party in 2003, having lost faith that it represented his brand of free market, individualist and compassionate politics.
  
  Matthew Elliot, Chief Executive
  In November 2007, Matthew was presented with the Conservative Way Forward ‘One of Us’ award by William Hague
  
  Florence Heath
  Florence led the student Conservative association at Imperial College for two years as well as the Europe-wide European Young Conservatives, and served on the committees of the local Conservative associations, Conservative Friends of Gibraltar and the cross-party Youth for a Free Europe.
  
  Matthew Sinclair (quoted on the Spider story)
  He has been actively involved in politics since joining the LSE Conservative Association in his first year at university. This has included fighting the anti-capitalist movement in the Student’s Union and helping out in the election campaign of the Letchworth Conservatives in 2007.
  
  Mark Wallace
  
  Before joining the TaxPayers’ Alliance, Mark was the Campaign Manager of The Freedom Association (a union-bashing organisation favoured by Thatcher). Mark has written for a variety of publications, including Freedom Today magazine, ConservativeHome.com,
  

• The Freedom Association was founded by Guinness Book of Records compiler, Norris McWhirter, whose campaigns for freedom gave medals to athletes who boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics, and defended sportsmen who went to South Africa during apartheid. So no bias towards the right there!

Will newspaper editors please insert a caveat when including the views of think-tanks and pressure groups. As Milton Friedman, Thatcher's hero (almost) said, 'There's no such thing as a free fill-up.'

The Mind Googles

I'm sometimes surprised - even by my sick standards - to see what people are searching for when they land on the desert that is this blog. Like the guy on Star Trek never seen before who volunteers to go down with Spock and Kirk, or the plain looking girl in the pre-title sequence of Midsomer murders, their mission is bound to end in failure.

I once had someone from the magical USA who was driven to the site by his predeliction for 'man forces wife to cum' on the oddly gravitational pull of a post which contained the words, 'man', 'armed forces', 'Chorlton-cum-Hardy', and 'wife'. I hope he found his true calling in life.

Today's collector of the ERIC THE FISH: I'M GLAD YOU CAME BUT I BET YOU DON'T RETURN award goes to someone in Oldham (strangely, and somewhat disconcertingly the opponents of Tranmere Rovers on Saturday) for this:

How tall is Fiona Phillips.

Spider From Mars

From the Liverpool Echo

A GIANT spider appeared in Lime Street today.

Stunned onlookers stared in amazement as the 37-tonne, 50ft creature dangled high above the street from Concourse Tower.

The massive arachnid is the first glimpse of the mysterious La Princess, the mechanical creature at the centre of the La Machine extravaganza.

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected on the streets of the city, many of which will be closed off, as the five-day street theatre event unfolds this weekend.

The Capital of Culture event will see “scientists” arrive in the city to investigate the creature.

They are due to set up a research base at the ECHO arena.

Hopefully, I'll be able to see this tomorrow as the drama unfolds.

Of course, there's always a lengthy line of moaners in the Mail:

• It is obscene to waste nearly two million quid on some silly spider when people are being told that they can only have the sight in one of their eyes saved.

  - David Bourke, Rochester, Kent., 3/9/2008 13:50

• Capital of Culture! If that is an example of it then we are better off without it.

  - ian s, Maidstone England, 3/9/2008 14:27

• How on earth is this 'culture'?

  - Christopher Hyde, Paris, France, 3/9/2008 13:54

• That's disgusting.

  - glynis letcher, Newton Abbot, Devon, 3/9/2008 15:42

• Wow it looks great..!! I wonder who is paying for it...? Sorry to be a party pooper...Good luck to Liverpool ...Tony Blair clutched between its jaws would be even better ...

  - Filmex, London, 3/9/2008 15:44

The last one tried so hard, but couldn't resist a meaningless dig at a ;erson who is no longer Prime Minister. However, the bold Sir Trevor from the Wine Lodge rides to Liverpool's rescue:

• How bitter some people are! I detect some envy. Most people here are proud of what has been achieved during Culture year. If you read the story properly, you will see that the spider will form part of a 3 day extravaganza. It will move around the city. Anyone who witnessed the sultan's elephant in London will know what a great spectacle this is.
  
  Some people like to moan at everything. Given that you lot of whingers are from outside Liverpool, why don't you mind your own business.
  
  The comment about eyesight operations is a cheap shot. Coupled with the other comment from Kent, I wonder why Liverpool was chosen instead of Maidstone?
  
  Dave - the building is set for demolition. Are you not able to read?

  - Trevor Yates, Liverpool, Capital of Culture 2008, 3/9/2008 15:33

London Calling

Given Richard Barnbrook's views it may have been more apposite to have titled this 'Germany Calling' but William Joyce, former Deputy of the British Union of Fascists under Mosley, was more of a radio star than pop star.

Millions of Britons tuned in to laugh at Lord Haw Haw's preposterous Nazi lies until he was put to death. One of his fellow propagandists, Norman Baillie-Stewart was one of the last to be incarcerated in the Tower of London.

Richard's latest meandering video offering comes courtesy of the wonderful technology of Youtube as posted at the blog of another Deputy Leader: Simon Darby of the British National Party and, with a careful nod to history, begins with a glimpse of The Tower.

I urge everyone to listen to this 10 minutes of gold. Priceless.

Here are some of the comments made by our elected fool:

On the Red White and Blue Festival "Then we had people like Bob Crow coming up...and the unions and Communists marching down... Now for Mr Crow. He's obviously innocent of all the occurring, maybe.

He is involved with...or guilty by association....guilty of a raucous of violence (sic)Children...were able to play freely without the fear of being attacked or absconded (sic) 0.46 secs

On BBC4's Question Time (sic) (=Any Questions on Radio 4)

We were there to ask poignant (sic) questions.Immigration, not immigration par say (sic)........fabric of the democratic problem (?)

A certain part of the community being kept out of their own existence.

It's nice to see Mr B using his native language so well. He then waxes lyrically about bringing back the rope for non-capital offences like paedophilia.

Careful, Richard, Mr Joyce was one of the last people to be hanged for treason.

Londoners must be very proud of having this dolt as a representative on the GLA. They say that he is one of the most articulate speakers the BNP has. His more repulsive side can be seen on his own Telegraph blog where he spits on the graves of WW1 soldiers to have a dig at Nelson Mandela and the fight against slavery, and then demands that the Notting Hill Carnival be banned.

A Whole Lotta Hate

The Olympics allows journalists the opportunity to link athletic prowess/failure to the state of the country, as they see it. It's a win, win situation. Cue unoriginal comments along the lines of 'if there was an Olympic event of (insert favourite moan topic here), then (Brown, Blair, Once Great Britain etc) would claim gold every time. It also gives both professional and hack writers the chance to pun for Britain.

Given that Great Britain - I share people's distaste for the American Team GB - performed beyond expectations, it should provide a dilemma for the knockers. Not so. The competitors have done in spite of the Government.

Following the closing ceremony, as sure as night follows day and knight follows dame, Mr Littlejohn is on the rostrum in a personal best time.

In a column down to his usual standards (headed, London 2012? Get set for Gary Glitter), he's out of blocks early:

• Just imagine if I had written a parody of the Olympic handover ceremony, which had included a portrait of Fred West, a simulated suicide bombing and a stabbing.

So what's he on about? Well, Britain's 8 minutes of fame in front of millions, at the closing ceremony in Beijing, happened to include the work of artist Marcus Harvey's controversial Myra Hindley print. In fact, it did not. The art in question was part of a montage used in a video shown to around 500 guests - including GB athletes, Boris Johnson and Gordon Brown. The video was commissioned by the Mayor's office according to The Telegraph.

Now, it can be argued that this artwork is incompatible with a celebration of the Games and it could also be seen as an example of the freedom of expression we have here. There is no evidence that either Boris or Gordon were aware of this; it certainly would not make sense for them to have permitted it. But, that is not the point here. Littlejohn - a highly paid, lazy hack - still uses it as an attack.

• And who thought it would be a good idea to show a promotional video featuring a picture of Myra Hindley, one of our most notorious murderers, tastefully made up of thousands of children's handprints?

The clever bit here is that by omitting to clarify where the video was seen, it is open for the rabid mob of Mailers to make the right connection.

Now, the production wasn't the best ever. David Beckham is hardly my favourite person (let alone footballer) in the world, but given the commercialism and professional nature of the modern Olympics, it's not so disingenuous. He is popular in the Far East, usually comes across as a good ambassador, and like it or not he is a global brand.

The irksome thing about Littlejohn's criticism, is his usual hypocrisy:

• What was Beckham doing there?
  He's the antithesis of the selfless, Olympian ideal - a man who has chosen to debase his waning talent by prostituting himself for hundreds of millions of dollars playing football in a 'major' league made up of pub teams.

This coming from a man who spends much of his time in exile in Florida in a not-so-small home. If anyone prostitutes himself, our fiend in the North of America must be high up the list.

Harmless fun so far? Richard has another arrow left:

• But don't be surprised if, in four years' time, the Olympic torch is carried into the stadium in East London by Jade Goody, following a march past by the Bradford chapter of Islamic Jihad, a 21-gun salute from the Brixton Crazee Eyez Killaz drive-by shooting posse - and a concert by Gary Glitter.
  That's if they've managed to shift the illegal gipsy camp off the track and field in time and the whole complex hasn't been shut down by elf 'n'safety.

In two sentences he manages to bring in all the usual hate suspects. The Chav, the Muslims, Black Rap-induced gun crime, Paedophiles, the Health and Safety Executive and Gipsies. No mention of asylum seekers or Eastern Europeans in public toilets but there's always next time.

I've missed out the early example of how his mind works:

• In the Bird's Nest stadium on Sunday, the decapitated double-decker looked just like the bus blown up in Tavistock Square on July 7.

I challenge anyone who watches the part where the bus transforms into a London skyline to think about the bombing atrocities before this despicable excuse of a man mentioned it. Of course, he's always able to rely upon the Littlejohn posse.

• When the bus came apart, my first thought was the 7/7 terrorist attacks. I could not believe how insensitive the oganisers (sic) were, and my heart goes out to all those people affected by the atrocious attacks. What are they planning for the opening ceremony at the London Olympics in 2012? A train falling apart to reveal Gay Glitter? - A.K., Sydney, NSW, Australia, 26/8/2008 5:14

Now let's just consider this prat for a moment. He's presumably read the shit in the column and then makes the same point about 7/7 and Glitter! Remember the Sydney Olympics? Didn't the fireworks seem a little incongruous with all those bush fires? I must have more time on my hands if I bother with this! [It has to be said that the speech recognition program on Vista speeds up typing! It even understands Scouse, but as ever, I digress.]

The only positive thing I can say about the following comment is that I'm glad he's from New Zealand, not the original Birkenhead.

• Richard Littlejohn, you made my day! Thanks for a great read and a great laugh! For a terrible moment, I worried that maybe the bus roof opening up was a terrorist attack! It must have brought back terrible memories for those injured in the 7/7 attacks or who lost loved ones. It was silly, tasteless and not well thought out. Why did the London performers represent multiculturalism rather than British culture? Has British culture died now and been replaced by ethnic cultures? Why was the ethnic girl Tayyiba Dubhwala, the winner of the Blue Peter contest that determined who got to be in the show? The Chinese used ethnic Chinese children I notice. Could it be because Blue Peter is on the left-wing anti-white BBC?
  - Robard Sinclair (Brit Expat), Birkenhead, Auckland, NZ, 26/8/2008 10:13

Where do we start? A great laugh? But it was tasteless to have a bus transform 'cos RL thinks it was like a terrorist threat. He then goes on like a recruitment pamphlet for the BNP. His point about Tayyiba, aged 10 (he's having a racist dig at a 10 year old girl!) is not even worded correctly. I think he's either trying to imply the competition was fixed, or she shouldn't have been allowed to participate because she's not ethnically white enough? Despicable and shame on The Mail for publishing this vile hatred. Ex-pat. No irony. If anyone from Birkenhead, Auckland happens across this bit by accident, please be assured that I feel sorry for you having this Sinclair bigot in your town.

Finally, Littlejohn turns his attention to Brown. Or unelected Brown as he thinks he is, showing scant regard to our constitution and ignorance of British history.

• When he was at the Treasury, he was responsible for fiscal policies which forced councils to sell off playing fields to property developers.

Yes, open spaces and playing fields have been allowed to be sold despite the incoming Labour Government of 1997 promising to protect them from being hived off. I'm having some difficulty finding figures for this but the legislation brought in by Labour was as a result of the Thatcher and Major Administrations' giveaway of the greenbelt. In the same way as there were more Grammar Schools lost under Margaret Thatcher, the political right aim to hide this in the bushes whilst they were the ones in the copse doing the real deals.

Clearly, they continue to bite the dust and I'm the first to criticise a Party of Government I actively wanted throughout the 80s and 90s, but I take offence at the revisionists like Littlejohn who try to make people believe life ended on May 1st 1997 in a diametric way as football pundits refer to the start of the Premier League as the birth of football.

EDIT:

The BNP also has its own take on the Blue Peter competition. This from the Press Officer for Cumbria BNP, Clive Jefferson:

• Tayyiba Dudhwala won a Blue Peter competition to take part in the handover ceremony on Sunday when London received the Olympic flag, the official hand over ceremony and presentation put on by London supposedly to celebrate all things British.
  .
  The Blue Peter competition asked entrants to write in to explain why they were excited by the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Tayyiba's cousin, Zakir Dudhwala, said she returned home from school one day and the Blue Peter crew were waiting to tell her the news. Mr Dudhwala explained what Tayyiba came up with to win the competition - "She wrote that different people from all over the world come together at the Olympics and she thought that was special."

• The above "celebration of British culture" is simply the perfect showcase of Politically Correct distortion and the ultimate epitome of media conditioning that I think I have had the misfortune to whiteness and the British tax payer payed 2 million pounds for the privilege.

Waterloo Sunset

Continuing the song title theme, I happened upon this old photo taken in Waterloo, Belgium. On route from Germany, the coach happened to stop at the historic place just as the sky was providing a bit of a display.

When You Wake Up To Find That Your Paper Is Tory......

As Anton Vowl at enemies of reason highlights, the Sunday Express leads today with a non-Maddie or Diana story:

EUROPE BIDS TO HIJACK OUR MEDALS

With the Olympics ending today and the torch being passed to Boris and Gordon, the Express faces a bit of a dilemma. How to twist the success of our athletes into a story knocking one of the usual suspects. Who to blame? Government? No, can't find an example of anyone losing a confidential memory stick in Beijing. Migrant invaders? No, that was yesterday. Europe? Yes, been a while since we battered Brussels. Now, just need a ranting UKIP leader to provide a quote. Better get one who looks like a Carry On Film actor. Olympic hijack? Munich '72?

The article itself is completely destroyed by the post referred to above, and later, the Express - to some credit- publishes what purports to be a comment from Damien Routisseau-Magrou ,Vice President, Young European Movement.

He seems to share the feeling that there may be a few things wrong with the article. Just a few mind:

ANOTHER SUNDAY EXPRESS ARTICLE THAT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE.
24.08.08, 6:01pm
Hello everyone.first, I would like to thank LindonBSwindon for being the first to make a sensible comment about this article - that it is utter nonsense.Being used to commenting on blogs here and there and especially on the BBC, I know how one simple comment can degrade into a flamewar, or at best a completely superfluous 'debate', let me make clear that this comment is a single rebuttal and that I will not respond to follow-ups.

As the Vice-President of the organisation cited here - the Young European Movement -, I would like to clarify several things.my first comment is on the story itself. I am sure anyone with half a common sense will have realised it is nonsense.

None of the EU's institutions have ever contemplated such a move as is described here. The great thing about writing an article with words such as 'it emerged' and making something up, is that you never need to back it up.

One thing is clear, and it is that the Young European Federalists (JEF; website: www.jef.eu) is in no position to 'draft' any 'plans' on behalf of any EU institution.

The organisation that I represent, the YEM, is described as 'the British arm' of JEF, though our official link with JEF is more that of an affiliation. However our president is not the Rt. Hon. Charles Kennedy MP, who is the president of the European Movement - UK, but rather Tomas Ruta, who like myself is a full time student.Neither the YEM nor the EM receives any funding from the European Commission or any European Institution, as is stated on our common website, http://www.euromove.org.uk/.

The European-wide organisation JEF has only received funding from the EC for specific projects in the framework of the YOUTH programme, for which spending is closely monitored, the conditions of which you can find on http://ec.europa.eu/youth/youth-in-action-programme/doc74_en.htm

The daily express' story stemmed from a website hosted by JEF advocating a single EU olympic team. This is the opinion voiced by a youth organisation and in no way is either a project of the European Commission or a position that would be imposed on athletes without their knowledge.

I am as ever amazed that such distinguished personalities as Mr. Farage and Mark Francois MP accept to comment on such nonsensical stories featuring our organisation when they have repeatedly refused to condescend to meet us in public debates about Europe.anyone wishing to contact me or the organisation I represent can find email addresses on our website, http://www.euromove.org.uk/

The YEM is currently in the process of filing a complaint with the Press Complaints Commission about this article.

Sincerely, Damien Routisseau-MagrouVice President, Young European Movement.

Incidentally, I learned that the Germans have a word for Nigel Farage of the UK Independence Party - Backpfeifengesicht (literally, a face that invites you to slap it!)

The man ain't got no culture

It was another Simon who wrote the words in the title of this post (in A Simple Desultory Phillipic on the Sound of Silence album), but the photo above comes courtesy of the blog of leading hatemonger, the British National Party's Deputy Leader, Simon Darby.

Following the tea-and-scones picnic his members had last weekend in Derbyshire, he kindly posted some more jolly photos on his site; comments are moderated but not so moderate so I couldn't make a point there.

Let me tell you, Simon and the morons of Liverpool BNP, that Liverpool's Capital of Culture celebrations have, after a shaky start, turned out well. The picture shows the depths which these purveyors of hate will go to.

This is not the first time the Liverpool 08 logo has been bastardised by these fear-mongers.

The Liverpool Echo reported in July of this year that Peter Quiggins or Peter Tierney as he is known, a local shopping emporium owner, had been sent a Solicitors' letter over his use of it in his battle with developers - a fight that evoked quite a bit of sympathy and support at the time - and forced to desist.

• THE former owner of Liverpool’s Quiggins centre has been warned by the city’s Culture Company about using the 08 logo to promote the British National Party.
  Hill Dickinson, the Culture Company’s solicitors, have written to now-BNP party member Peter Tierney threatening legal action over the use a version of the Liverpool 08 logo on an advertising hoarding which he tows behind a vehicle.

The article continues with Quiggins defending his action:

• He said: “I put the logo on my trailer and it says that the city has been sold off.
  “It’s not the Capital of Culture, it’s the Capital of Vultures.
  “I’ve even drawn the logo myself – when you look at it, you can tell I’ve drawn it.”

It couldn't be the same one could it? I'll try to find out more information. Tierney/Quiggins was giving out BNP literature about culture the day before the McCartney concert; a fine ambassador for the city as thousands of tourists converged.

As those who have visited here as a result of following my profile on the Telegraph blog site will know, I've been having a bit of a laugh on Greater London Authority member Richard Barnbrook's pitiful blog. The Guardian initially expressed some concern over The Telegraph giving a platform to this brown-jacketed individual, but I think it serves a useful purpose in exposing Barnbrook for the coward he is. He refuses to answer pertinent questions and therefore has become a figure of fun.

Joking aside, the BNP are dangerous despite their low level of support. As the seat on the GLA shows, when other forms of electoral systems are used - as seen in other parts of Europe - minor parties can end up with disproportionate representation.

(I'm aware of the irony of complaining about infringement of rights and then appropriating Darby's photo.)

The Mail and the BNP: If A Picture Paints

The Mail spends a great deal of time distancing itself from the 'knuckle-scrapers' of the BNP as Littlejohn describes them as, yet often we see stories in the paper which are clearly aimed at providing succour to these Neanderthals whilst washing journalistic hands.

The comments section is usually the dead giveaway. Many of my previous posts have shown examples of this; so much more can be found on the Mailwatch forum.

One of the recurring themes of Mail immigration stories - aside from the headline not fitting the content of the story- is the powerful image. Story about possible Roma thieves? Get actors to dress up as tramps; need a picture of asylum seekers? Show stock photo outside an office that looks like it gives out benefits; immigration? Show a picture of someone dressed in full Muslim niqab.

This leads us to the picture at the top. On numerous occasions it has been used by the Mail to decorate their immigration and Muslim stories. Despite the fact that only a small percentage of Muslim women choose to wear this, the paper is not so subtle in its use of the image.

The same image was found on the BNP's site on 14th August. It is not for nothing that, despite the caveats, The Mail remains the paper of choice for the evil bigots of the BNP.

Darby in Derbys.

Repugnant BNP hatemeister Simon Darby, on his blog, alluded to a story breaking in the Sunday papers involving England footballers and the BNP. It appears that this, in The Sunday People, was the piece in question:

STARS OUTRAGE AT VILE BNP WEB VIDEO

Sport and pop legends are fuming after their images were used in a music video promoting the British National Party.
National icons including Sir Paul McCartney, soccer star John Terry and cricketer Freddie Flintoff were hijacked to appear alongside hate lyrics on internet site YouTube.

The anti-immigration track This Is England includes offensive lines like: "They took our Pound, now they want to bomb our Underground" and has had more than 12,000 views.

Obviously, the people concerned: Terry, Flintoff, Butcher, Pearce and Macca (Churchill could not be contacted for a comment but Max Clifford allegedly said that if he was representing him he would issue a joint press statement with Kerry Katona).

Darby, in Derbys, is quoted as responding, "It is not an official BNP video. It has probably been released by a BNP supporter. People have the power to produce anything on websites these days.

"If it portrays Britishness, then I'm not going to complain about it. I would not be happy with using famous people who perhaps don't have the same opinion as we do. But there is nothing we can do about it. (This is crap as seen here: a commissioned portrait of Winston to raise money for BNP funds. There is also one of John Lennon about to be auctioned this month)
"I don't know what their political views are. If they are not of our opinion, then I

apologise."

Not quite a not-me-Guv defence as he is clearly secretly pleased about the content and the press publicity. This is an aspect of the fight against these Neanderthal Fascists that has concerned me for some time: the oxygen of publicity v free debate. As I've been trolling Richard Barnbrook's Telegraph blog recently, I keep wondering if it's counter-productive. I feel another post germinating and as cycle-partner Steve has jetted out to his Channel Island tax-haven today (have a word about investment with Tranmere's Chairman while you are there), I've nothing else to do.

I'm a bit worried about attacking Simon Darby as he likes to stick hooks in the mouths of fish and baiting the BNP is sometimes like shooting fish in a barrel, but his blog is informative and reasoned!

• On Freedom of the press

Just had the Guardian on trying to get a quote about one or two of the speakers we have lined up for you. It almost takes your breath away that these journalists who have facilitated in the systematic destruction of our people and our way of life actually think that criticising a process which is tantamount to genocide is somehow to be forbidden.

The Guardian wanted to ask about Petra Edelmannova of the far-right Czech National Party, party recently announced it was working on a 150-page "study" called The Final Solution to the Gypsy Issue in the Czech Lands. Now this is not quite the same as the Nazi Final Solution but the name is surely chosen for a reason. The article continues, "Although the title evokes the Nazi plan to eradicate Jews in wartime Germany, the party told Lidove Noviny, a national Czech newspaper, its aim is only to offer Roma voluntary relocation to land bought in India. This has undertones of the situation in Italy.

Of course, the BNP itself would like to repatriate - supposedly voluntarily - and believes that asylum can be summed up thus: We will also clamp down on the flood of ‘asylum seekers’, all of whom are either bogus or can find refuge much nearer their home countries.

• On China (NOT A RACIST......Oh right, Ted) Better Youtube clip

The Chinese people I have known in my life have been by and large honourable and law-abiding folk. Not that that is any excuse to flood my country with their compatriots, there being a limit to the amount of Chinese food outlets and shellfish harvesting opportunities Britain can provide.

Yes, know your place.......we don't mind you doing laundry or running take-aways as long as we can imitate the Spanish Olympic basketball team and the Duke of Edinburgh in keeping the slitty-eyed motif running.

• La Belle France

Jean-Marie Le Pen confronts Sarkozy - Strasbourg (July, 10. 2008)I've been lucky enough to meet him twice, they can call him what they like but one word they never use is "coward".

If we want further evidence of where the BNP stand, look at Derby's photos of BNP advert vans (truth trucks!!) talking of justice for indigenous victims of violence and English victims of racist violence. What colour do you think these victims will be? Answers on a Kennkarte to BNP, PO Box 107, Wigton, Cumbria.

Carlsberg 2 The Sun 1

After an early own-goal, Carlsberg (brewers of definitely NOT the greatest lager in the world) has, like Tim Leunig last week, found out that the people of Merseyside don't take things lying down.

Local paper, The Echo are on the case (£6.98 for 18 bottles at Sainsburys):

• RED-FACED Carlsberg bosses have apologised to outraged Liverpool fans for their aborted beer promotion with The Sun.
  The Danish brewer yesterday axed a deal with the tabloid newspaper to give readers a free pint over the August bank holiday weekend.
  Senior figures at the firm, which is the Anfield club’s shirt sponsor, contacted the ECHO and admitted their decision was “naive”.
  They said they were bombarded with complaints from upset Reds as far afield as Norway, Malaysia and Singapore. Keld Strudahl, marketing director of Carlsberg International, said the company hugely regretted the move.
  Vouchers were to be printed in The Sun, still boycotted by football fans in Merseyside over its coverage of the Hillsborough disaster, and then exchanged for a free pint in 13,000 pubs.

It may be difficult for the outsider to comprehend the hostility towards this vile paper but it is very rare to see someone in public with it. Whilst one could probably walk into any working class pub in Britain to find numerous copies folded over to the racing page, it is not common here on Merseyside. Dave in the corner - Daily Star;man with Kwik Save bag - Daily Mirror;Eric the Fish - pretentious broadsheet - but you get the idea.

Further articles on Hillsborough are archived as a zip file on the Kirkby Times site here.

Nuts! They Still Crack On

Apologies for the dreadful Daily Star-type pun, but whilst perusing the PCC site, I came across an interesting report of a resolution to a complaint brought by a Scottish school over the perennial old chestnut (ahem) of 'everything-is-banned-through 'elf 'n safety-or-pandering-to-Islam'. It also gives an indication of how much of a toothless tiger the PCC is. I'll hazard a guess that more people continue to believe this urban myth than actually read the reply letter.

Another resolution involved a doctored photo of a battlefield resulting in some war books being given to the person pointing out the error. Given the amount of recent photoshopping used in The Mail et al, Waterstones must be expecting a bumper year.

Complainant Name:South Lanarkshire Council
Clauses Noted: 1
Publication: Scottish Daily Mail
Complaint:
South Lanarkshire Council complained, through Levy & McRae solicitors, that the newspaper had inaccurately claimed that a ban on nuts at Bothwell Primary school, enforced to protect those with allergies, extended to conkers .

Resolution:

The complaint was resolved when the newspaper published the following letter from the school’s head teacher:

“Your article of 7 September entitled 'Conkers? Nut Likely!' reported that a letter sent by me asking parents to check packed lunches for nut content and for chestnuts not to be brought to school, stated that 'pupils could no longer play conkers'.
In fact the letter referred not to conkers but to edible sweet chestnuts, which if eaten by anyone with a nut allergy will cause a potentially fatal anaphylactic shock.
Some years ago, an eight year-old pupil at our school suffered a serious reaction to eating a nut. Fortunately, he survived but the distressed pupils who witnessed the event decided they wanted their school to be nut free. It is in that context that the letter was sent and not as a 'killjoy move' as reported.”
Report: 74

Tough On Crime - Weak On Compassion

Days after an acquittal of a man wrongly convicted of murder - a man whose life would have been taken by the state, or more starkly, US, we see that compassion abounds on Planet Daily Mail. Summary justice is in vogue.

Everything in Mail Land is black and white (mostly white) when it comes to crime and punishment, particularly if you happen to be of foreign descent.

The story itself - about two Chinese students brutally killed in Newcastle - uses the time-honoured and dishonest tactic of inserting inverted commas to avoid attacks from the Press Complaints Commission. The PCC must have the Mail's number on speed dial. In this case, the Mail is on safe ground in respect of libel laws due to the death of the students.

• A Chinese graduate may have been tortured and murdered because of his links to an international internet betting scam on Premiership football matches, it emerged yesterday.

Note that use of the word may. We don't need any actual evidence, just supposition. As one bastard pointed out on the story about wrongly-convicted Barry George, death, be it through judicial or private execution, solves a lot of problems. Mr. Jeffreys then compounded his bastardy by seeking to justify it here on Enemies of Reason. The Mail then hides behind unnamed sources and then take to the jounalistic Tora Bora with the snide,

• "It was also claimed that the couple sold fake university degrees and international driving licences and ran a group purchase scheme to buy products cheaply, but then failed to hand over goods or return money."

Now, Zhen Xing Yang and Xi Zhou may well have been involved in what is claimed. The police appear to be investigating this aspect as they search for a possible motive: no problem there. What is also important to note is that this is a murder inquiry (as they say in Taggart) and as such the victims are entitled to sensitivity and proportionality. But not in the Mail.

Whereas the comments policy in the Mail seems to have been relaxed in recent weeks in that opposing views are being allowed, it also means that the more extreme elements are on too. I've argued before that the Mail's policy was illogical even by its own standards, as surely for every one anti-comment, there would be twenty readers ready to toe the right-wing line. However, by allowing appalling comments such as those below, they are again failing.

So, the most serious charges to be levelled at the victims is that they could have been involved in defrauding bookmakers and employers not willing to check qualifications. Not condoned, but hardly befitting summary execution. Send in the frowns:

• Mess with crime and this is what could happen.
  - Jacqui Weems, Southampton, 14/8/2008 18:02

JW is so often spewing forth on topics relating to foreigners that she may have burning crosses outside her house. I comfort myself with the thought that if you google her name followed by a profanity of your choice, this site is Number 1. How do you sleep, Weems?

• If true then good. He lied, cheated and stole.
  - Dave, UK, 14/8/2008 21:56

Dave is not certain that it's true, but if it is, he's glad that 'the mutilated bodies of Mr Yang and his girlfriend, Xi Zhou, 25, were discovered in their ground floor flat in Newcastle last Saturday. Mr Yang was tortured before his death.'

• A very 'sound' nulabour business by the sound of it. Gordon must be very proud.
  - Jerry, Watford, UK, 14/8/2008 21:56

Jerry manages to have a dig at Gordon Brown. First class arsehole.

• Seems like they lived by the sword..........................
  - Mick, Ipswich, 15/8/2008 0:13

Mick doesn't even understand the metaphor, even allowing for a non-literal interpretation. Please hit this guy with a heavy bible (which ,of course would be more appropriate). Still, I'm sure he's the only one dim enough....oh wait!

• Live by the sword, die by the sword.
  - eric victor, uk, 15/8/2008 2:01

Look Eric, take this advice from one Eric to another: Please don't breed.

We look forward to hearing jokes on the subject from Ann Winterton.

The Greatest Olympian

On the day that comparisons were made with academic results now and then, we also saw the continuation of the debate over whether Michael Phelps's record Gold medals made him the greatest Olympian of all time.

For what it's worth, I think we have to go some to beat the guy whose name adorns the Olympiastadion, Berlin in my photo below.

Bring on the nubiles

At this time of year I was always have a bet with myself that the Mail (and other culprits) will publish pictures of pretty young blondes getting their A Level results. A pint to Eric. In an unusual move, there is one group photo in the story with a couple of non-white students. Not that the Mail has any motive here.

The annual argument over standards carries on and maybe I'll add my two penneth one day (dead giveaway to your age there, Eric -Ed.)

Best comment on the Mail story goes to this honorary professor:

• I can't wait to see the spelling, grammar and punctuation of posters who say standards were higher in their day.
  - Callum Durrutti, London, 14/8/2008 9:51

Deserves his own column!