Sunday, December 31, 2006

Lest we forget

British military fatalities in Iraq
British military fatalities in Afghanistan

Equal rights?

An Iraqi-born leisure centre worker has been awarded more than £100,000 after winning a discrimination case against his employers in Flintshire.

The company in a statement claimed that Mr Al-Jumard had shown "aggressive and inappropriate behaviour towards staff".

Mr Al-Jumard complained to his employers when two white men, who refused to share a whirlpool bath with two Asian men, were given a refund.

The tribunal in Abergele declared that the manner in which the company bowed to the wishes of the two men revealed its attitude to such issues.

Tribunal chairman Sheila Warren said: "The way that was dealt with was indirect discrimination and showed the attitude of the respondent company to issues of race."



The issue in this case is not one in which anyone was refused entry to the centre but one in which individual visitors did not wish to share with other visitors. What we are talking about is taking away the right of individuals to choose who they associate with, forced integration.

According to the tribunal, two white men should not be given the right to decline a whirlpool bath with two Asians, yet the two Asian men it seems have that right.

Following on from the recent revelations that various councils up and down the country such as Croydon are holding Muslim only sessions, we now have a situation in Wolverhampton where they have started running ethnic minority only swimming sessions.

Wolverhampton City Council employs special life-guards and instructors for the sessions, which are open to the city's black and asian residents only, and the regular workers have to leave.

As a result of flawed PC legislation and wholesale discrimination, we now have a situation in which a white person cannot refuse to share with an asian person, whilst at the same time asian and black people can refuse to share with white people.

This type of discrimination cannot and must not be tolerated, there has to be a decision made. Do we have freedom of choice or do we have forced integration, you can't have it both ways.

Ex-centre worker wins race case

Saturday, December 30, 2006

Them and us?

I am by no means the type of person who thinks we should forgive and forget or turn the other cheek. Indeed, it is a pity that we cannot hold all senior figures around the world accountable for their actions, perhaps that would make the world a better and safer place.




But when I saw the photo of a man going to his death, I am left with a nagging doubt that this is not the way to do it.

What? An Honour?

The honours list has been published and I was going to link to one of the mainstream outlets to show the list but you can find that yourself.

As I've already given my view on the honours system i decided to look round for differing views and found myself having sympathy with the following post on a "political" website:

http://www.bnp.org.uk/news_detail.php?newsId=1291

Friday, December 29, 2006

When will it end - part two

It seems that the hypocrisy within the Labour Government really knows no bounds. Government Ministers and other Labour MP's publicly protesting against their own policies is a new low for even this Government, but now it appears that a Junior Health Minister is also standing with his local constituents to protest at the closure of a maternity unit in Bury.

Mr Ivan Lewis, who is the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Care Services , has admitted he was opposing cuts to a hospital in his constituency.

Mr Lewis’s admission is the most potentially damaging yet for the Government as he has personal access to Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt and is responsible for hospital policy

Under changes backed by the Government, maternity units across the north of Manchester are to be closed and replaced by a regional centre, despite huge public opposition.

Mr Lewis said today that the overall change was right in principle but he opposed the exact details of which units should close.

"Under the proposals, Bury, Rochdale, Rossendale and Heywood, a whole chunk of Greater Manchester, will be left without maternity services. My argument is I fully support the need for change — the status quo isn’t right in terms of safety or quality. But in terms of geography, there remains a strong case as part of that reconfiguration for a unit to remain at Bury," he said.

Finally the effect of NU Labour policies is directly affecting their own Ministers and MP's and they are scared they may lose their own seats. They are part of the decision, collective responsibility and all that, so at least have the decency to uphold your own policies, or for every one's sake, just go, now.

Now health minister fights axe for local maternity unit

When will it end?

Following on from my earlier post ( No Shame) about a Government Minister protesting against Government policies, it appears that there is even more to the story:

Three ministers in NHS cuts protest - Times Online

2007 is going to be an interesting year as we watch the Government and their policies disintegrate before our very eyes - let's just hope they don't take the rest of us with them.

BBC1 posts its worst Christmas Day ratings ever

Despite the BBC continuing to lose it's share of the Christmas audience, BBC1 controller Peter Fincham said:
"BBC1 has been at the top of its game this Christmas.
"Overall viewing levels are up, our performance in peak is 11 per cent higher than last year, but most of all we've had a wonderful schedule of programmes that audiences love - Doctor Who, Eastenders, The Vicar of Dibley, Strictly Come Dancing and Little Britain have proved an irresistible combination.
"What this shows is that family viewing is alive and well and in excellent health. There's lots more to come over the festive season, which is showing once again that when the family gets together, BBC One is the place to be."

So there you are, no matter what the figures say, the BBC is going from strength to strength. Anyone looking for a change in direction in 2007, don't hold your breath; as far as Auntie is concerned, she's right on target.

Oh, and congratulations to Channel Four for attracting 900,000 viewers to their Islam message on Christmas day, I hope it was worth it.

Link

Britain finally pays off World War Two loans

The government said it will on Friday pay back the final instalments of loans taken out at the end of World War Two to finance vital reconstruction.
The payments of $83.25 million (42.4 million pounds) to the United States and $22.7 million to Canada will close the final chapter of the war and mean that in total the country has paid close to twice what it borrowed in 1945 and 1946.

Britain borrowed a total of $4.3 billion from the United States in 1945, followed in 1946 by a loan of $1.2 billion from Canada.

Now that this money has been finally paid off, perhaps the Government will turn it's attention to the current conflict that is going on and provide our troops with the resources they so desperately need.

Back troops, says UK Iraq general

Thursday, December 28, 2006

No shame.

I was born and spent the first twenty odd years of my life in Salford, Greater Manchester, and it was therefore with great interest that I read the article on the BBC web site regarding Hazel Blears, their local MP. (Thanks to Nobby)

Ms Blears is of course a Cabinet Minister for the Government in the role of Labour "Chairperson".

That being the same Government that is trying to push through changes in Maternity provision that she is protesting.

Is there no end to the duplicity of these people that "represent" us.

As Geoff Martin, Head of Campaigns for Campaign group Health Emergency puts it:
"If the closure of maternity services is wrong in Salford, it is wrong
in all those other parts of the country as well and Blears should be piling on
pressure to ditch the cuts policy or she should resign"

I couldn't have put it any better my self.

BBC article

He wins again?

From the Daily Mail:

"Tony Blair was accused of cheapening the office of Prime Minister and grabbing yet another freebie holiday after he embarked on a £60,000 break in Florida with one of the Bee Gees.
The Prime Minister, his wife Cherie and three of their children are relaxing in the £5.2million seafront mansion owned by Robin Gibb, one of the two surviving members of the 1970s pop group."


Cheapen the office of Prime Minister, surely that's not possible?

"Downing Street insisted that the Blairs were paying for the Miami Beach holiday, but Mr Gibb's wife Dwina said the couple had neither asked for nor accepted money from the Blairs.
'It's just a friendly thing,' she said."


Ah, so that clears that up then, one party is clearly lying, now which one would that be?

Arise Sir Robin!

Link

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Respect Zones

The Government is to spend even more money on a new initiative to tackle the problem of anti-social behaviour.

In return for extra funding, the 40 areas - to be identified next month - would be expected to use their full powers to combat anti-social behaviour.

Louise Casey, the government's "coordinator for respect", said: "We approached these local authorities and asked if they wanted to become 'respect' areas, and now they have signed up for it.

"The figures very clearly show that kids who are breaching Asbos are breaching everything else as well.
"It is not the failure of the Asbo; it is the failure of getting the offending behaviour of that young person under control."

Well, I'm sure this is a very nice New Year initiative from the Government who have also promised to issue guidelines to help authorities deal with anti-social activities, but as usual I think they are missing the point.

This Government have been in power for a decade. It has been their responsibility to "get tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime". What a dismal failure they have been.

Please, please don't spend another penny of our hard earned taxes on futile gesture politics.

This country deserves to be a national respect zone, not to have singled out areas, no doubt labour marginals, and it should be a national issue, tackled at a national level.

Yes I know there are areas of the country which have specific problems that are more severe than other areas but this cannot be tackled by spending more money or introducing more and more and more legislation.

Anti-social behaviour is very difficult to tackle because it is a very subjective term to begin with.
Labelling all behaviour that "offends" an individual as anti-social undermines the whole concept. When I am trying to sleep and my neighbours have a noisy party, should I call the police and should they be served with an ASBO?
What if they have a party once a month, once a week, or every night?

In a multicultural society it becomes harder and harder to recognise what constitutes anti-social behaviour. What may be seen as tradition in one country would be construed as very anti-social in another. This worked fine when we had separate countries to live with and this is the very tradition of nations working together with broadly the same ideas and outlook on life.

Under Nu Labour, Nu Britain is now a melting pot of different cultures and traditions. Church bell ringing has been restricted in some areas due to it being classified as anti-social and yet Mosques may broadcast over loud speakers 5 times a day in others. In a 24 hour society people work at different times, so if I use my drill at 3:00 in the morning, I'm not being anti-social because it's the middle of the afternoon to me.

You may think that I have missed the point because this is not really what they are talking about. They are talking about "hoodies" terrorising the neighbourhood, intimidating people and the like.

Well, that's problem number one: the boundary between illegal behaviour and undesirable behaviour has become very blurred.

It may not be pleasant to walk through a crowd of youngsters whilst visiting the local takeaway or wherever it may be, but if you are not assaulted either verbally or physically, if they do not bar your way or make threats then it is your problem not theirs.

If they were to carry out any of the above then it would be an offence at which point then something should be done.

But this brings us to problem two: very rarely is anything done, indeed a lot of people's perception is that the police will only attend if they, the aggrieved party, take some sort of action themselves.

On the rare occasions that the police do arrive quickly enough to apprehend the offender then a lot of the time no action will be taken other than to move the offenders on.

On the even rarer occasion that the offender is arrested and prosecuted, we then find the third and biggest problem that is faced by us all, regardless of how much money the Government spends now or in the future; the punishment does not fit the crime.

Whilst Judges promise us that they will not consider a prisoner for parole on a life sentence for at least five years, and when it is the case that shop lifters are almost never considered for imprisonment no matter how many offences thay commit or to what value, when criminals feel that they are pretty much invulnerable as some police force's detection rate run as low as 3%, what reason is there to fear the law.

In most cases, offenders of the kind the Government wants to target know that nothing will happen to them, I know nothing will happen to them, and I imagine anyone who reads this knows nothing will happen to them.

That is what has to change, and that does not need any extra money, not one penny. All it needs is the will and determination to enforce the law and allow society to put the victim first, to allow children to grow up with the discipline and sense of values that come from a secure family upbringing.

Surprisingly, this is what we had before successive Governments decided they knew best and needed to "intervene" in people's lives.

So once again Mr Blair, save our money and do what you are paid for, which is to represent us, the law abiding decent people of this country, and stop wasting all our times with puerile gestures like respect zones.

"Honours"

With the news that a famous Pop Star is to join a fellow famous Pop Star with an honourable award, isn't it time to put an end to this outmoded, corrupt system of populist, political nonsense.

I have to confess that I have never been a great supporter of the Honours list as I have always thought that it singles out people in such a subjective way.

However, with the current police investigation still ongoing into cash for honours, surely most people must recognise that now is the time to call a final halt to this discredited system.

These days I regret to say that the Monarchy has become irrelevant with the move from being Defender of the Faith to seemingly Defender of any Faith, speeches written for the Queen that have no real relevance to the British people, and Honours lists that mean little to everyday people.

As for any list by the Government, who would want to be on that, tainted as it is?

Hasn't the Government heard, the British Empire is over, British Honours are worthless. How does a Government that has done more than any previous Government in history to destroy our way of life dare to put together lists of Honours that include:

Member of the British Empire,
Order of the British Empire etc.

This is Nu Britain, the all inclusive World Order country.

Watch out Mr Blair, if you continue to make these sort of "racist" awards you may well have Trevor Phillips knocking on your door.

Sorry, that would be Trevor Phillips OBE, wouldn't it!


Tuesday, December 26, 2006

David Icke - Was He Right

I've just watched a fascinating programme about David Icke, and whilst I don't know much about his reptilian ideas or some of his other views, I can tell you that his observation of the Orwellian and fascist state of this country is spot on.

It was interesting to watch the police intervention when he was filming outside the Houses of Parliament, him asking what the problem was as they were all on CCTV anyway.

The police at their finest.

Blair plan for 'people's panels'

Blair has called for the formation of "people's panels" to advise on how to push through public service reforms.

"One of Mr Blair's aides said the "major extension" in public engagement would go some way to providing a "crucial route map to the future".
He said: "It recognises that politics is changing, the public level of expectations is rising both in terms of the provision which they receive and the right which they have to influence those services.
"This engagement process will identify in more detail the areas which the public want us to focus on and develop a series of radical and progressive solutions," he added."


What is the point of peoples panels? Hiding behind hand picked people's panels is every bit the gimmick that the Big Conversation was, and at least in 2003 the Government had a shred of credibility.

Why not do us all a favour for once and tell it like it is?

What we are talking about is wholesale Government interference in people's lives.

Smoking, over-eating, eating the wrong things, alcohol consumption will be first on the list and the Government intends to embark on withdrawal of service from those sectors of society that refuse to do what they are told.

Notwithstanding that we pay for the services, we will soon have to qualify for what we get. If we do not fill our side of the "contract" we will not receive the service.

Mr Blair, do us all a favour and mind your own business, stay out of our lives, your kind concern is not required. As far as services are concerned, we pay for them, you deliver them. That is the contract, it's not for you to tell us what we should do in order to qualify for "your" services. You work for us not the other way round.

If you can't afford the services anymore I suggest you stop giving our money away to other countries, and stop spending it subsidising the social engineering you are engaging in.

After all, it's not as if you haven't taken enough of it is it? (See previous post)

People's panels

A Taxing Matter - The real cost of Labour Policies

"Hard-pressed families have been forced to hand over almost £120,000 in tax to Gordon Brown since Labour came to power in 1997, new figures reveal.

The Office for National Statistics has found that £70,000 of the money has been raised through direct taxes - such as income tax, national insurance and council tax.
But the remaining £50,000 has been raised through indirect taxes - often dubbed 'stealth' taxes - such as vehicle excise duty, stamp duty and the TV licence fee."


With all this extra money the Government has collected, services must surely be at an all time high. Well ..... no, actually.

"Corin Taylor, Head of Research at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: "Since Gordon Brown became Chancellor, the average family has effectively written him a cheque for £120,000 with very little to show for it in return."

"Healthcare in this country is still a disgrace, schools are failing and violent crime is out of control because Brown has carelessly thrown cash at everything instead of actually improving services by reforming them. "Politicians like Brown need to understand that people's tolerance for this sort of old-fashioned tax and spend policy is rapidly diminishing. People rightly want to be able to keep more of their own money to spend on their own priorities. "Ordinary families have effectively had to work from 1997 to 2001 for Gordon Brown. Only since 2001 have they been able to work for themselves."

Even those who have kept their head in the sand for the last decade must now finally see the true results of multiculturalism both in terms of financial and social costs.

Throughout 2007 I think we will see more and more evidence of the complete and utter disaster the Government has made of this country, and the true cost of their Marxist policies.

And remember, so far there is no hint of a change to the open door policy within this country, and there are also two more sets of "replacement workers" due to descend on this country over the next few months.

When your local council tells you that they welcome all these new people and how great and enriching this diversity is, ask them why your council tax is going up so much, why services have been reduced and just who is actually benefiting.

I for one think that enough is enough.


It's official .......

Animal Cruelty and Double Standards

I just caught a bit of the television news, I know, I do my best not to watch it but every so often it catches you out, especially at this time of year when bulletins are at unusual times.

They were talking about the traditional Boxing Day hunts taking place in parts of the country and inevitably about the "unworkable" law put in place to prevent cruelty to foxes.

Police will no doubt be out in force to prevent trouble between Hunters and those who still feel more needs to be done to prevent cruelty to animals.

Over the years there has apparently been violence on both sides with people defending their principles, and a number of animal lovers have been convicted for standing up for what they believe in.

This is why I am really puzzled at the way in which so many people appear to be blind to a cruelty that is prevalent in this and other "civilised" countries.

The slaughter of animals without stunning them first is both cruel and barbaric. This country has over the last decades led the way in providing decent and humane conditions for animals and it seems a pity that all this hard work has been undone by the refusal of the Government to outlaw these practices.

Perhaps those people who invest so much of their time championing the rights of animals could spend some of their time trying to get this practice banned.

Foxes are inevitably killed regardless of whether they are chased in the hunt, so surely it is a matter of the cruelty involved in their death, so I cannot see why the "religious slaughter" of animals is any different.

Cruelty is cruelty, no matter whose name it is under.

Channel Four Islam Message

What an absolute disgrace Channel Four has become. It is not big or clever to put on this kind of display on Christmas day.

If Channel Four wish to fill their schedule with Islamic propoganda then that is fine, just not on Chistmas day.

Senior Executives know what will happen if the role is reversed on holy Islamic days, but let's see if they have the balls to do the same; somehow I doubt it.

Attacking the silent majority in this country has become something of an obsession for the gutless wonders that currently run the country and the MSM, maybe 2007 will prove the turning point when people stand up and say enough is enough.

One can live in hope, in the meantime I have written to Channel Four congratulating them on the loss of at least one viewer.

Sunday, December 10, 2006

John Reid - on likely Christmas attack

Talking on GMTV, the Home Secretary says that the threat of a terrorist attack is very high indeed. Unfortunately we have got used to these sort of predictions in the same way that Christmas and IRA attacks used to go hand in hand.

Until Mr Reid and the rest of the Government face up to the truth and recognise what serious problems they have introduced into this country, there is no chance of reducing this risk.

He says:

"
The aim of the terrorists is to divide the community, to pretend that this is a war between Muslims and everyone else, when it isn't.
"In a funny way they reflect the views of the extreme right of politics who argue the same thing - that the big division is between Islam and everyone else.
"It isn't - it's between the terrorists and everyone else and only with that unity can we ultimately defeat them."


So there is no division between Islam and everyone else then Mr Reid?

Try telling that to those people who wish to go swimming in public swimming baths but now find them segregated.
Tell it to those people who have monstrosities built on their door steps and loud speakers blaring out several times a day, even at a time when church bells have been restricted up and down the country due to complaints about the noise.
Tell it to those people who have had to change the name of their establishment due to it not fitting in with our new society.
Tell it to those whose traditional Guy Fawkes celebrations are supplanted by tiger festivals.
Tell it to those people who find it almost impossible to find a traditional Christmas card or display in a shop window.
Tell it to those people who find that local groups are flouting planning regulations without any fear of interference by the authorities.
Tell it to those people who find their children being taught about Islam even when there is nothing about Christianity being mentioned.
Tell it to the parents of children who are being taken on visits to Mosques without their permission even though there is no reciprocal arrangement with Muslim children.
Tell it to anyone who has had to remove posters, pictures, personal possessions from their work place, or had to sit through "diversity" training.
Tell it to anyone who has been stuck in a mixed ward in hospital and watched as members of a certain religious group are granted privacy that they are not.
Tell it to the people who have their work censored and to the people who are unable to view what the rest of the world views.
Tell it to the public who can be arrested at any time of day who may wonder why certain religious groups have certain times where they are immune to arrest.
Tell it to the members of the public who may wonder why members of a certain religious group are notified before police operations are carried out.
Tell it to anyone who has been subject to offensive racist and religious insults and been told by the police that it only counts in one direction.

The fact is Mr Reid, that this list is by no means exhaustive, the divisions between Islam and the rest of us are clear to see, and that is just in this country which still has a minority of Muslims.

What about countries that are run according to their laws, where beheadings are common for nothing more that deciding you no longer wish to be part of that religion? Where you may not practice any other religion or have any of the freedoms we take for granted?

There is no unity between Islam and the rest of the population and nor will there be as long as this Government allows the continued destruction of our culture and heritage, allows the continued segregation of society, and continues to pretend that it is extremists causing the problem.

I personally do not know anyone who has benefited in anyway from this revolution visited on us by the present government, but I do know a lot of people who feel that life is considerably worse.

The Government and media are constantly trying to associate "right wing extremists" with terrorism by referring to them in the same sentence, phrase or context. What they really mean, of course, is the British National Party.

I want this country maintain it's Christian traditions. I want it to represent the views of the majority and do not want the population to be supplanted by other cultures and religions just because our present Government likes this idea better.

This, according to Mr Reid and people like him, makes me an extremist because it is a view I share with the British National Party.

Public opinion is changing as people wake up to the reality of what this Government has done to us. The Great British Public is no longer falling for this corruption of the truth. Once credibility is lost it is impossible to get it back.

Far from the British spirit being defeated, at this time of year the Government should pay heed to what may have once been said about another great nation:

"I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve."


Article

Happy Birthday

Happy birthday to my sister, it's cheaper than sending a card!

Seriously, I hope you have a great day.

xxx

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Away till the weekend

I will be back and posting again on Saturday or Sunday.

Monday, December 04, 2006

What the Telegraph didn't want its readers to see

Whilst having my daily stroll through the political parties web-site, I came across this on the BNP site.

It is an item about the apparent rejection of an article written by Christopher Booker who has been writing in the Telegraph for 16 years. The article was turned down by the paper's editor, Patience Wheatcroft.

Why was it turned down?

See for yourself.

BBC - Race Crimes.

Reporting on the fact that race crime charges rose by 28% last year, the BBC tells us:

Ken Macdonald QC, Director of Public Prosecutions, said fears of a backlash after the London bombs were unfounded.
He said: "After the 7 July bombings it was feared that there would be a significant backlash against the Muslim community and that we would see a large rise in religiously-aggravated offences.
"The fears of a large rise in offences appear to be unfounded."


The article goes on to give examples of attacks on Muslims giving the impression they are contradicting what Mr Macdonald had to say. Recent statistics have shown what a lot of people already knew, that racially motivated attacks occur within all sectors of the community, both in terms of victims and perpetrators.

My congratulations to the BBC for there continued devotion to community relations and for championing the notion of the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Find the article here.

6 Powers Near Iran Resolution Agreement

The U.N. Security Council's five permanent members will meet Tuesday in Paris to discuss sanctions against Iran for it's failure to heed demands to halt enrichment of uranium.

According to the article in the Washington Post "Uranium enrichment and plutonium reprocessing can both produce material for atomic warheads, and Iran's lack of complete candor about its programs has fed suspicions in Washington and other capitals that Tehran is trying to make nuclear weapons in violation of its treaty obligations."

Serious sanctions are being opposed by the Russians who favour limiting them to measures that would keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, eliminating any travel ban or freeze on assets. However, the Russians are in the process of completing the nuclear facility at Brushehr, which when completed could allow weapons grade plutonium to be extracted from the reactor allowing the Iranians to construct nuclear weapons.

Although there appears to be conflicting reports about whether deliveries have actually begun, Russia is also intending to supply Iran with Tor-M1 air defense missile systems. The Tor-M1 system, also known as the SA-15 Gauntlet (a variation), has the ability to track up to 48 targets simultaneously while actively engaging two at a time. The short range system can acquire and begin tracking within a range of 25km and engage at 12km. Its primary advantage is the reported ability to engage cruise missiles skimming at very low altitudes, a weapons system that would likely be a major part of any American strike on Iranian nuclear facilities.

I am by no means an expert on the Middle East, rather just a casual observer. However, having read a lot of what Iranian President Ahmadinejad has to say on the subject of Islam and the destruction of Israel, and looking at developments around the world, it is clear that Iran intends not only to influence the whole of the Middle East, but has real ambitions to control it. The destruction of Israel is at the forefront of these plans, I can't see how you could reach any other conclusion.

In recent times the U.N. has has failed to act in a meaningful way, other than as a talking shop, delaying any serious action until it is either too late, or until world opinion has moved on so that issues can be quietly dropped. The time for sanctions, even if they were to be severe in nature (which they never would be) is long past.

Action needs to be taken now, not when the armament of Iran is completed, the lessons of history are there to see, talking about it just won't get the job done.

Sunday, December 03, 2006

NHS Confidentiality Campaign - The Big Opt Out

As the Government moves ahead with its Surveillance Society agenda a piece at a time, it has been revealed that patients will be ignored over the privacy of their records.

Doctors and experts on computer privacy fear that the Department of Health is ready to ignore patients' wishes, despite concerns that by doing so it may breach privacy safeguards in the Data Protection Act and the Human Rights Act.

In a letter published on the website of the Government agency responsible for the computer scheme, NHS Connecting for Health, it is clear that the intention is to press ahead regardless of the wishes of individual patients: http://www.connectingforhealth.nhs.uk/news/department-of-health-responds-to-patients-over-electronic-care-records

The Big Opt Out campaign has more information about what is going on and includes a sample opt out letter to send to your GP.

So why not take a look, download the letter and show this Government that enough is enough.
http://www.nhsconfidentiality.org/

Elderly struggling to pay fuel bills

the BBC news website has this about older people struggling to pay their fuel bills: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6202266.stm

Last year there were nearly 25000 deaths as a result of preventable cold related issues. Millions of older people live in misery during the winter months because they can't afford to heat their homes.

The UK has a higher number of winter deaths than in colder European countries. EU countries that experience more severe winters than the UK, such as Finland, Denmark and Austria, all have much lower levels of winter deaths and as I am sure will come as no surprise, lower fuel costs.

Age Concern and Help the Aged are campaigning to improve the situation and are asking members of the public to write to their MP. More information can be found by following these links:
http://www.ageconcern.org.uk/AgeConcern/ftf_campaign.asp

http://www.helptheaged.org.uk/en-gb/Campaigns/WinterDeaths/WhatWeWant/default.htm#what

Despite rising gas and electricity bills, however, ministers say there will be no rise in this year's winter pay-out.
A spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions said pensioners' incomes were "higher than they have ever been".
He said the government was "proud of its record in tackling pensioner poverty" and as a result of changes since 1997, average pensioner households were now £1,400 a year better off.

Lies, damned lies and statistics.

Islam Awareness Week

I was not yet open for business as it were, so missed the fact that last week was Islam Awareness week.

http://www.iaw.org.uk/ gives you all the information that you may of missed and the website gives a lot of information for those who know little of Islam.

Alternatively for a different point of view you could look at
http://www.islamanazi.com./ or http://islamophobic.blogspot.com/

Make up your own mind.

To my sister ....

Thank you for the visit the other day, I took your advice and decided to maintain a certain standard!

p.s. Happy Birthday for next weekend

Millions turn off the TV

According to the Sunday Express

TEN million families have switched off their TVs because of the diet of sex and violence.


A Sunday Express poll reveals today that 53 per cent of viewers believe programmes have got worse, with shows such as Davina McCall’s Big Brother replacing quality television.

............. When it comes to who is to blame for the falling quality of programming, 46 per cent of viewers blamed multi-channel digital TV, 22 per cent blamed ITV and 21 per cent the BBC.

............. John Beyer from Mediawatch said: “Family entertainment is expensive to produce.“I am afraid broadcasters have got used to giving us low-cost, low quality material because it is cheap and means more money for things other than programmes. We commend the BBC for programmes such as The Great British Summer, Planet Earth, Coast, Strictly Come Dancing, Who Do You Think You Are?

.............The BBC’s director of vision, Jana Bennett, said: “The Sunday Express survey backs up what viewers tell us – which is that they like high-quality programming and that they want more of it. “High-quality programmes and something for everyone is what the BBC is all about, which is probably why 17 out of 20 people watch BBC TV every week.” She added: “We’re delighted that David Jason appreciates Doctor Who and Robin Hood, because we created them as programmes we hoped the whole family would enjoy, along with others like Planet Earth, Strictly Come Dancing and How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? “However, there’s more still to do – which is why the BBC’s bid for the licence fee includes substantial plans for more high-quality programming and to increase family programmes on BBC1.”

Certainly the BBC does produce some enjoyable programmes such as Coast, Planet Earth and the like and it manages to show a number of repeats that are of a high quality.

The problem is that dramas such as Robin Hood and Doctor Who that could be enjoyable family entertainment are spoilt by biased and agenda driven scripting. Post watershed dramas and comedy is so predictable, you only have to sit back and wait and you will see the same themes over and over again. Similarly, news and current affairs programmes tend to be so biased and one sided that they can be painful to watch, be it Question Time with their "balanced" panel and "representative" audience, through to the once reputable Today programme on Radio Four with it's unique brand of balanced interviewing.

I am sure that the BBC is capable of producing lots of quality entertaining programmes that would appeal to a lot more of the population than at present, and it would be wonderful to have a Public Broadcaster we could be proud of. Unfortunately, unless there is a radical shake up in the staffing at the BBC, increasing the licence fee would just be chucking good money after bad.

2007 - the changing face of politics

According to animalaid.org:

Following the victory by the Dutch 'Party for the Animals', which won two seats in its national parliament last week, a new political party - Animals Count - is being launched in the UK.

The party intends to contest the Welsh Assembly elections in May 2007 where one third of the seats are open to proportional representation, so who knows, it may be possible for them to have representatives in the Welsh Assembly.

Perhaps we can now look forward to Mr Cameron extending his green credentials still further in the months to come.

Cash for Peerages update

According to the Daily Mail:

Teacher thrown in cell over cash-for-peerages says: 'Do the same to Blair'

It's a nice idea that we should all be equal under the law but remember, this is Great Britain!

Blair plots 'cash for honours' revenge on police

Mr Blair is obviously quite concerned that his name has been dragged through the mud. If he feels that all this has been damaging to his reputation he is wrong, all it has served to do is to confirm it.

As for taking a BBC style revenge on the police, it's a bit late for that; as any serving Police Officer and many members of the public can tell you, things can't get any worse.

Or can they?


Friday, December 01, 2006

Home Office staff can join Islamic extremists - what's that Mr Phillips?

The Daily Mail today informs us:

Home Office staff are free to be members of the Islamic extremist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, it was revealed yesterday.
Those working in the department responsible for immigration and homeland security do not even have to declare membership of the fanatical organisation, the Government admitted.


This means Home Secretary John Reid has no idea how many of his staff hold the group's radical views and he has no means of monitoring their activities.
The revelation - in a written parliamentary answer - comes after Home Office IT manager Abid Javaid, 41, was found to be a member of Hizb ut-Tahrir, which supports a worldwide Islamic state run under hardline Sharia law and has refused to condemn last year's London bombings.
Shadow Immigration Minister Damian Green said: "This is really shocking. It is a dereliction of duty for them not to find out how many more Hizb ut-Tahrir members are on the Home Office payroll."


I have a tip for Damian Green, tell everyone they are members of the BNP and then see how quickly they are off the payroll!