Rewriting History.

At the Labour conference Trevor Phillips , head of the CRE (and soon to be head of the replacement organisation) made some comments which have been widely criticised as being both profoundly ill informed and representing a certain agenda:

He suggested that the story of the Armada should include the role that Muslims had played in the British victory, adding: "It was Turks who saved us by holding up the Armada at the request of Elizabeth."

The fact checking of this claim has already been done with great aplomb both by Tim at Conservative Party Reptile and Laban Tall (who predicted that 'the Turks' defeated the Armada' was a liberal myth in the making as far back as 2004) here, so I have little to add to that part of Trevor Phillips's statement. However one thing that I don't believe has been mentioned is that this call to airbrush British history to serve political ends is not a one off gaffe by Phillips but rather a central plank of the race grievance industry.

From 1998 to 2000 Trevor Phillips, along with Lafy Gavron, Andrew Marr, Lord Parekh, Herman Ousley and many more, served on the slightly Orwellian sounding 'Commission on the Future of Multi-Ethnic Britain', which was set up by the Runnymede Trust and launched by Jack Straw. This commission's proposals were welcomed by the Home Office, until an adverse press reaction brought about a shameless U-turn by Jack Straw, these proposals included the demand to that our history needed to be "revised, rethought or jettisoned" and must include more black and ethnic minority figures (do the Japanese ever worry about the shortage of Welshmen in their national story?). Along with various demands to make police bashing a national hobby (I paraphrase) and one member of the committee, Lady Gavron, saying that Prince Charles should marry a Bangladeshi or Black woman, the selfish bastard must not have listened to her.

Ironically given the Prime Ministers British speech where he mention Britishness repeatedly in a very British way, because he is British at the Labour conference the Runnymede report also denounced 'British' as because:

It says the description of its inhabitants as British "will never do on its own", largely because the term has "racist connotations".

This is how the people who govern us think when they aren't aware that they are being observed by a wider audience, these attempts to diminish Britain are not a fleeting here today gone tomorrow craze, but something integral to their core beliefs.

A Prediction.

We won't see a General Election this year, despite the speculation and Labour's strong showing in the polls because:

• Gordon Brown is a bottler, look at the way he held off ousting Blair for years.
• Labour have three years with a good majority to run, why imperil it for very little in return?
• If Labour don't increase their majority the decision will make Brown look foolish and leave Labour MPs resentful towards him.
  
• Labour voters are disproportionately lazy and feckless (come on you know it's true) , so holding an election in November when bad weather and bad light makes it a chore to go to the polling station will depress their vote.

I will come back to this post if I'm proved right in January 2008, if I'm wrong it shall of course be consigned to the memory hole.

The Surge.

I didn't write about the Petreaus report on the results of the American 'Surge' strategy last week. The results of the strategy have been successful to some degree as I predicted back in January:

if we know that there were too few troops then why has it become the received wisdom that the troop 'surge' that Bush is currently implementing is doomed to failiure and we should be cutting the number of coalition personel? It seems to me that the surge is the correct policy and that only by wresting control of Baghdad from sectarian militias will Iraq be stabilised.

My opinion was vindicated to some degree, as both the Petreaus report and other sources such as the BBC's 'Monitoring the Surge' have demonstrated. Obviously it is not a panacea and some militias will simply have taken a break for the duration, but those insisting on judging it a failure, such as the infamous "General Betray Us" ad by Move On (it's an interesting quirk of American politics that the Democrats constantly whine about having their patriotism questioned, yet actual examples of patriotism questioning are almost exclusively made by them, plus Ann Coulter) are not doing so based on the evidence.

Colossal mistakes were made in the Iraq war, particularly the failure to impose order as soon as Allied troops took control and the dissolution of the Iraqi army, both of which appear to have been based on a horribly naive misreading of human nature, although Petraeus was cannier than most British and American Generals back in 2003/2004. Yet that does not justify the idea that everything that the US government does from here on is automatically mistaken, in fact since Robert Gates became defense secretary their policies have become far more rational in terms of identifying the problems of Iraq and attempting to deal with them systematically.

Mental Elf.Issues.

There are certainly problems with this Judge from the Philippines:

As a trial-court judge, Florentino V. Floro Jr. acknowledged that he regularly sought the counsel of three elves only he could see. The Supreme Court deemed him unfit to serve and fired him last year.

But honestly can he really be any kookier than those we already have? In fact one of his Elves, Luis appears to have a sounder grip on reality than most British criminologists:

Helping him, he says, are his three invisible companions. "Angel" is the neutral force, he says. "Armand" is a benign influence. "Luis," whom Mr. Floro describes as the "king of kings," is an avenger.

.....

According to local newspaper reports, a mysterious fire in January destroyed the Supreme Court's crest in its session hall, and a number of members of the court and their close family members have developed serious illnesses or have fallen victim to car accidents.

Enough bizarre things have happened that in July, the Supreme Court issued an en banc resolution asking Mr. Floro to desist in his threats of "ungodly reprisal." The Supreme Court's spokesman declined to elaborate.

Mr. Floro says he is not suffering from psychosis, and that he's not to blame for the incidents. He points the finger squarely at "king of kings" elf Luis, who Mr. Floro says is bent on cleaning up what he says is the Philippines' corrupt legal system.

In other Elf related news only 13% of Icelanders rule out the possibility of the existence of Elves. I suppose if Bjork is your national icon it's understandable I guess.

Bluetongue & Browntongue Major Problems.

First case of Bluetongue found.

One Millionth case of Browntongue found.


Update: I see from the front cover of Private Eye that they've stolen my joke!

Stalin- Fighting For Your Liberty!

Well the above is true if you believe the blogospheric left who believe that Soviet losses in
World war II debunk the claim by Fred Thompson that “shed more blood for other people’s liberty than any other combination of nations in the history of the world”. This doesn't mean that Fred Thompson's claim is accurate but the sheer ignorance of major newspapers and self styled intellectuals who could praise such an incompetent refutation is breathtaking.

So This Is Why Polly Toynbee Is So Keen On Scandinavian Healthcare.

"First the ignore, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, and then you win", well so said Gandhi anyway. It is the fate of all pioneers to be dismissed by the establishment:

A Swedish doctor who was fired from his job in Norway for using a controversial 'anal massage' technique to cure various kinds of pain has resurfaced in Denmark where he has been working at a psychiatric ward in a Copenhagen hospital.

Danish authorities said they were not aware that they had been dealing with 'Doctor Anal', as he has been referred to in the Danish press
....
The man described his dismissal in Norway as part of a witch-hunt against him, and said that his technique was successful.

Several years ago, the man was warned by Sweden's Medical Responsibility Board (HSAN) on at least three occasions, after treating an elderly woman's headaches and back pain with his method. At the time he was working in the Stockholm area.
...
HSAN examined the research literature which the doctor used to support his use of his anal massage technique, but found that his treatment contradicted "scientific, tried and tested experience"

Remind me just to buy some aspirin if I get a headache in Scandinavia.

Joined Up Policies.

The Liberal Democrats have finally figured out that immigration is not a monolithic phenomenon and there are some forms of immigration that should be made easier and some that should not. There remains a tiny problem though:

Britain should offer a ``selective'' amnesty for some of the 600,000 immigrants living illegally in the country, said Nick Clegg, a member of Parliament who speaks on domestic policy for the opposition Liberal Democrat Party.

People who have lived in the U.K. for 10 years and can prove a ``commitment'' to the U.K. should earn the right to a two-year working visa and a path to citizenship, Clegg said. They would have to pass a language test, prove family ties and have no criminal conviction.

In the same speech Clegg added a new policy:

He also proposed an increase in fees paid by employers for work permits for overseas employees.

``If employers are having to look outside the U.K., then it's clear we have a problem with training our own workers here at home,'' Clegg said. ``So we propose an increase in fees paid by employers for work permits. We can use the revenue to train U.K. workers for other jobs.''

So they want to make it harder to recruit highly skilled individuals from abroad whilst simultaneously removing any obstacle to law breakers who have demonstrated a complete disregard for out laws.

Dissent Crushed (Again)!

Seeing as I'm not gay I didn't watch the Emmy awards last night and was in fact completely unaware that they had occurred. That was until I learned from insane progressive weblogs that the chill wind of repression had once more touched the thespian community. Actress Sally Field's acceptance speech was faded out by Fox when she launched a truly incisive antiwar message:

“Surely this [award] belongs to all the mothers of the world. May they be seen, may their work be valued and raised. Especially to the mothers who stand with an open heart and wait. Wait for their children to come home from danger, from harm’s way, and from war. I am proud to be one of those women. If mothers ruled the world, there would be no god damned wars in the first place….“

The highlighted words were removed before the speech went to air, no doubt to the relief of the White House. Of course Fox apologists claim that since the speech was only on a five second delay that the explanation that the editors with his finger on the button at the time wasn't sure whether the FCC would object to the phrase "god damned" is more likely. If only that were true, this is in fact the latest in a long line of phony shocking crackdowns on free speech of late.

And to think that some people actually have the nerve to accuse lefties of being whiny and hysterical!

Hardened Criminals.

May they receive a stiff sentence.

Diane Abbott.

So did anyone else know that Diane Abbott MP has been writing articles for various Caribbean newspapers informing their readers that "an apology is the least that the British Government owes the descendants of slaves". Her interpretation of the whole thing is familiar to anyone who has read the distorted interpretations of slaver and abolition by professional race baiters, but it still seems extraordinary for British MPs to sneak off to incite resentment against their country abroad.

NothingTo See.

Uh oh it appears that terrorist students are plotting to attack us. This is particularly scary following on from terrorist plumbers and alleged terrorist doctors. If only theses people had something in common.

The Sham In Shami.

Maybe it's just me, but reading between the lines I think someone isn't too enamoured by Shami Chakrabati, spokeshobbit for the pressure group Liberty and her latest media interview. Has she ever received a slightly sceptical interview or profile from a major newspaper?

Back On Monday.

I'm going to take a break from blogging until Monday because frankly I've lost my Muse and am in a rut, blogging wise.

Muses are the myhtical beings that were once believed to inspire creativity and are usually depicted as looking something like this:


At the moment my muse is a dreary creativity sucking entity that resembles this:

So you see I need a break.

Boxing Clever.

The British Medical Association has long campaigned to ban boxing for reasons I fully understand although don't endorse. Unlike other sports where serious injuries can occur when something goes wrong, the actual purpose in Boxing is to cause a brain injury severe enough to stop someone walking for a few seconds, catastrophic injuries occur when things go too well not when things go horribly wrong. In my view consenting adults should be free to box (although I personally went off watching it after the Nigel Benn- Gerald McClellan fight, which was brilliant but left the loser brain damaged and in need of 24 hour a day care for the duration of his life.) but I have a lot of sympathy with the BMA's position.

However their latest announcement is rather less compelling, they have added the famously violent Ultimate Fighting to their list of combat sports they want banned because:

It takes boxing one step further because of its 'no holds barred' approach.

This is true, but misses the point, boxing is particularly risky because the rules are designed so that the competitors compete by landing blows to the head. In the absence of these rules landing clear hits on the head is more difficult, so the 'no holds barred' approach isn't taking boxing to new extremes but making a safer activity.

The BMA may still feel that it is too dangerous to be legal, but should not make out that it is worse than what is currently legal.

Generous & Modest!

The BBC's decision to drop the 'Planet Relief' day has upset some people. It can be said that Al Gore's Live 8 demonstrated that getting pampered celebrities to deliver sanctimonious lectures is a good way to get people's hackles well and truly up. Normally I'd agree, but then you trawl through some entertainment blogs and you soon realise just how special some of our celebrity betters are, such as Canadian pop singer Avril Lavigne who describes her munificence thusly:

"I am a very giving person. When the hurricane thing happened, I went to my closet, filled six boxes of stuff and said to my assistant, 'Take it to Katrina!' I also like to give stuff to people who are my 'workers,' especially if they don't make much money."

It's like Mother Theresa has been reincarnated.

Dog Eat Dog Eat Child.

I missed the Panorama edition on dog fighting last week and saw it for the first time last night on the BBC's sign language zone late at night. Watching the sign language for phrases like 'vicious dog' was somewhat disconcerting at first, as it seems to involve snarling like a dog.

I made my own thoughts about Pit Bulls clear a few months ago, in short not only are they intrinsically dangerous and unpredictable animals but the people who own them are the more likely to be the sort who would bring out the worst in any dog. The latter point was amply demonstrated by the Panorama documentary. It represents a considerable improvement on the last Panorama I watched, on the Scientologists where John Sweeney managed to make them look sane. If Sweeney had done this one then I wouldn't have been surprised if a video had been released of him running around a ring biting people and licking his testicles.

The one recurrent aspect that the programme exposed but didn't dwell upon was the sheer incompetence of the authorities, from police in Merseyside who informed the mother of an attack victim that there couldn't be dozens of pit bulls on her estate because they're illegal, to the routine ease with which they persuaded the authorities that the dogs they were importing were part Boxer and part Labrador.

Quote Of The Day.

"How has a nation of a mere five million, subsisting mainly on deep-fried Mars bars, managed to secure hegemony over one of 50 million, most of whom are richer, more enterprising and less booze-sodden than their northern counterparts?!"

-David Cox, Comment is Free.

Keeping Promises.

UKIP always claimed the European parliament was full of crooks and now they've proved it! Of course getting caught suggests that he hasn't quite gone native yet.

Sorry Thickie You're Staying.

I'm not quite sure that I see the point of the one of the Conservatives' new education proposals (although much of what Cameron has been saying is excellent):

Underachieving children could be forced to spend an extra year in primary school under proposals unveiled by the Conservatives.

Eleven-year-old pupils would be compelled to resit their final year with children a year younger, while their peers started secondary school.

Why are the children failing in the first place though. If it is the crap teaching then what could will another year at the same school do? If they are as thick as pig shit (politicians rarely acknowledge that some kids are simply dumb) then what good will it do, will they have to stay for another year if they are still failing? The only circumstances where it might be useful are where a child has had a particular but temporary problem that has been addressed satisfactorily and can now move on.

Come to think of it I really don't think this is the kind of policy that should be decided centrally for the entire country, leave it to individual schools or to local authorities to set the policy. It does at least mean that Labour put the repellent Education Children's secretary, Ed Balls, on the television to respond which should be worth a few thousand votes for the Tories. Balls's moronic underling Jim McKnight had this to say:

Proposals for what the Tories have called a ‘remedial year’ would stigmatise the very children who need extra help. They would increase class sizes and make it difficult for teachers and parents to plan ahead.”

How would it increase class sizes, does McKnight think that the 'stay behinds' are going to split amoeba like into two separate entities if they stay behind?

Deliquent Toddlers Not Huge Problem.

I saw this non story on the BBC website today, " Thousands of crimes by under-10s". For once the BBC are playing up a crime story:

Almost 3,000 crimes were committed last year where the suspect was too young to be prosecuted, the BBC has learned.

Figures show there were about 1,300 incidents of criminal damage and arson, and over 60 sex offences where suspects were under-10s in England and Wales.

This sounds bad except when the context is considered, there are over 5 million recorded crimes in England & Wales each year, so 'almost 3000' crimes by under 9s amounts to just over one in two thousand crimes which is pretty trivial. Mind you the age of criminal responsibility is a silly concept in itself and I remember thinking that when I was still under the age myself. Abolish it and let it be decided on a case by case basis whether the child can be considered responsible for their actions.

However whilst reading this story I spotted a link to an earlier story from May this year, "Criminal age 'should rise to 18' ". This is nuts, pure and simple and I guessed before I read it that it originated with the increasingly vocal pro criminal lobby group, Centre for Crime and Justice Studies at Kings College, London. It is important to realise that 'youth crime' isn't a trivial subset of general crime. it amounts for a huge proportion of total crime. Criminality peaks from the mid teens through to the early twenties, so if a huge tranche of those offenders are reclassified as not being legally responsible for their actions then it would be a major step towards abolishing punishment by the back door.

Of course they might simply be benchmarking, throwing out the figure of 18 in order to to make raising the age of responsibility to 14 or 16 appear almost reasonable, in much the same way that I demand that members of the CCJS be ritually sacrificed when really I just want to make their public flogging appear moderate.

Another Boycott In The Offing?

When the Danish Motoons row broke out last year many people were determined to demonstrate their solidarity with Denmark by buying Danish goods to counteract any boycotts from the anti free speech contingent. A new row may be brewing over a Swedish Motoon (Pakistan are stirring it up again) which will presumably entail another counter boycott, now as far as I'm aware Sweden's main exports are:

• Cars, Volvos and Saabs to be precise.
• Flat pack furniture.
• Hard core pornography.

I don't need any furniture and can't afford a car right now so....

Incidentally there has been a case of a western country punishing someone for a motoon, I doubt that they will receive much appreciation from those demanding apologies from Denmark and Sweden.