I have just finished reading a sad new twist to the fate of war torn Iraq, after nearly six years ravaged by strife and the ruination of its infrastructure, a new and even more worrying fate is befalling it's beleaguered inhabitants.
The once mighty Euphrates river, once the "life bringer" to this cradle of civilization is drying up. It's tributaries are now just muddy ditches and the salinity close to the coast has reached such high levels that towns are being evacuated as thousands face drinking water shortages and their animals die.
Has this been widely publicised? For I have not seen any reporting in the run up to this new human tragedy. As if living under a tyrant for so many years was not enough, this new setback just compounds the living hell that has befallen this country. After being used as a battlefield by radical Muslims in their struggle with the west. Now the populace face the threat of massive droughts and power cuts as the river empties and the turbines in the hydro plants stop spinning due to a lack of river flow.
In the marshlands, the people who were subject to some of Saddam's worst atrocities, have a new battle against the dropping water levels, which they seem unlikely to win. This will lead to the subsequent destruction of their culture and way of life, something Saddam never managed to do.
A vast part of the problem, lies in the fact that country's higher up the Euphrates and it's tributaries have been damming and draining the river for their own needs, leading to a massive drop in river flows and water levels in Iraq.
How long can this go on, before military action over water, becomes the next excuse for carnage in the middle east. Is it not time, that the World as a whole, tried to address this problem, for without it, a country which was once a birthplace of civilization, will become nothing more than a stinking arid wasteland!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
The BNP and the rise of Extremism
We recently had a BNP candidate in the small East Devon Town of Ottery St Mary. Not normally known as a "hot bed" of racial tension, but none the less, indicative of the spread of extremist politics to the leafy lanes rather than the "dark satanic mills" of the north of England...I felt the need to put "quill to parchment" on the subject, my comment reads below....
I am sure, that as the next few years unfold, we will see BNP candidates fielded in far more towns across the South west and support amongst the electorate growing. Sadly, this is the fault of a political class that currently run our country and are not prepared to listen to the worries of the ordinary man in the street. This is how extremism rises, we only need to look back a few scant years, to see the rise of Mussolini, Hitler and Moseley, all extremists, born out of the desperation of recession and depression when the working man and women were ignored by the elite political classes, they were treated like dirt and down trodden. The intelligent leaders of the far right, recognised this and pandered to their fears. Much as the BNP does today. Visit the BNP website and look at their "proposed policies", many of which are nothing more than the things folk worry about and discuss down their local. Bemoaning the fact that the government "never listens". One would have thought that a Labour government would have been more "in tune" with the "working man" but instead they have betrayed the very people who struggled to create their movement many years ago. These people then feel disenfranchised, they fall foul of job cuts, they see their life's work fall apart, their pensions wither, they see crime un punished and a policing system which protects the criminal and affords him or her "rights" whilst denying the victim any form of worthwhile justice. This heady recipe, is one that foments extremism and enables clever leaders to capitalise on peoples fears. Sadly, the "far left" are no better, stupid stunts like pressurising the chairman of Broadclyst Village Hall, so he cancelled a BNP event and "egging" Nick Griffin, only reinforce the BNP's cause, as it is seen that democracy is denied them. This helps them avoid debate in the public arena and thus the magnifying glass never shows the transparency of their policies or their failure to act in a manner which is suitable for a party within a democracy.
I personally do not think the rise in the support for the BNP has been solely down to the recession. We are inheriting the results of a generation of trendy "left wing" thinking, with no "moral yardstick", a generation of "Ethnic Diversity" that we didnt need, as we were all quite able to get on with our neighbours whatever their creed or colour. Unchecked immigration has caused many people to feel "strangers in their own land", yet the government fails to address the problem, those that question it are branded "rascist". Asylum seekers are wideley reported in the media, as being given endless benefits, whether true or not, the damage is done, friction is created. The opening of Europes borders, has made our border, only as weak, as the weakest border in Europe. Once in the EU, unchecked travel, gives illegal immigrants ease of movement, yet the government is so "In Thrall" of Brussels, we do nothing to halt it. Whilst all of these things seem small when taken singly, add them to the recession, the rising crime rate and unemployment and you have a fertile breeding ground. The government and the incoming government, need to address the fears of all folk, before we see history repeat itself, with equally bloody consequences to people of all races that live in this country.
I am sure, that as the next few years unfold, we will see BNP candidates fielded in far more towns across the South west and support amongst the electorate growing. Sadly, this is the fault of a political class that currently run our country and are not prepared to listen to the worries of the ordinary man in the street. This is how extremism rises, we only need to look back a few scant years, to see the rise of Mussolini, Hitler and Moseley, all extremists, born out of the desperation of recession and depression when the working man and women were ignored by the elite political classes, they were treated like dirt and down trodden. The intelligent leaders of the far right, recognised this and pandered to their fears. Much as the BNP does today. Visit the BNP website and look at their "proposed policies", many of which are nothing more than the things folk worry about and discuss down their local. Bemoaning the fact that the government "never listens". One would have thought that a Labour government would have been more "in tune" with the "working man" but instead they have betrayed the very people who struggled to create their movement many years ago. These people then feel disenfranchised, they fall foul of job cuts, they see their life's work fall apart, their pensions wither, they see crime un punished and a policing system which protects the criminal and affords him or her "rights" whilst denying the victim any form of worthwhile justice. This heady recipe, is one that foments extremism and enables clever leaders to capitalise on peoples fears. Sadly, the "far left" are no better, stupid stunts like pressurising the chairman of Broadclyst Village Hall, so he cancelled a BNP event and "egging" Nick Griffin, only reinforce the BNP's cause, as it is seen that democracy is denied them. This helps them avoid debate in the public arena and thus the magnifying glass never shows the transparency of their policies or their failure to act in a manner which is suitable for a party within a democracy.
I personally do not think the rise in the support for the BNP has been solely down to the recession. We are inheriting the results of a generation of trendy "left wing" thinking, with no "moral yardstick", a generation of "Ethnic Diversity" that we didnt need, as we were all quite able to get on with our neighbours whatever their creed or colour. Unchecked immigration has caused many people to feel "strangers in their own land", yet the government fails to address the problem, those that question it are branded "rascist". Asylum seekers are wideley reported in the media, as being given endless benefits, whether true or not, the damage is done, friction is created. The opening of Europes borders, has made our border, only as weak, as the weakest border in Europe. Once in the EU, unchecked travel, gives illegal immigrants ease of movement, yet the government is so "In Thrall" of Brussels, we do nothing to halt it. Whilst all of these things seem small when taken singly, add them to the recession, the rising crime rate and unemployment and you have a fertile breeding ground. The government and the incoming government, need to address the fears of all folk, before we see history repeat itself, with equally bloody consequences to people of all races that live in this country.
The furore over the release of the "Lockerbie One" seems to be gathering pace, with a group of our "Special Friends" from across the pond having started a website calling for a boycott of England and Scotland...
http://www.boycottscotland.com
Having read their site from top to toe, i was minded to send them the following mail...
It was with some sadness I read your prolific and verbose diatribe on why "England and Scotland should be boycotted". My sadness was for the usual myopic "woe is us" attitude you have taken against a decision made by elected men and women in a free and democratic country. Or at least allegedly free and democratic. Do not misunderstand me, I have full sympathy for the men, women and children who perished on the plane, equal in measure to the sympathy I hold for innocent civilians murdered by American "Blackwater" terrorists in Iraq or those classed as "collateral damage" after raids in Iraq and Afghanistan. Human life is sacred, no matter what creed or colour and as a race of people the USA occupies no moral high ground whatsoever when it comes to killing people to further its business or political interests. Whether it be in Nicaragua, Iraq, the homelands of the Sioux or elsewhere on this "muddy ball" that we call home.
The freed bomber, should have remained in custody until the end of his life, for what he did. That is without question. But your campaign to destroy the jobs of ordinary men and women in the United Kingdom is as twisted as the intelligence you used to tell us that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction.
As a society, for years, you funded the IRA, sponsoring murders,kneecappings and summary torture and execution on the streets of Northern Ireland and bombings on the streets of the UK, yet it was only with 9/11 and the harsh results of terrorism being hammered home on American soil, you ceased your funding of murderers on our soil.
Now you cry wolf, now you shed tears of anger, because our leaders have decided to free this man. I do not agree with it, but I live in a democracy and the decision to free him was taken under a "democratic umbrella". That democracy was hard fought and won, by the generations who gave their lives during WW2 to ensure tyranny did not win. Sadly you cannot turn democracy on and off. Not all the decisions made will be agreed with by the majority, but the most important thing, is that the decisions are made with the political mandate, which has been handed to those in power, by those who have exercised their right to vote. I personally did not agree with our soldiers being sent to Iraq or Afghanistan, but I voted for the government and therefore abide by their decisions.
SO please stop this small minded anti British/Scottish nonsense and cast the microscope over the blood your countrymen have on their hands. The bible tells us: "Let he whom hath no sin, cast the first stone", perhaps you should put your basket of stones down and use them to "build bridges" instead.......
http://www.boycottscotland.com
Having read their site from top to toe, i was minded to send them the following mail...
It was with some sadness I read your prolific and verbose diatribe on why "England and Scotland should be boycotted". My sadness was for the usual myopic "woe is us" attitude you have taken against a decision made by elected men and women in a free and democratic country. Or at least allegedly free and democratic. Do not misunderstand me, I have full sympathy for the men, women and children who perished on the plane, equal in measure to the sympathy I hold for innocent civilians murdered by American "Blackwater" terrorists in Iraq or those classed as "collateral damage" after raids in Iraq and Afghanistan. Human life is sacred, no matter what creed or colour and as a race of people the USA occupies no moral high ground whatsoever when it comes to killing people to further its business or political interests. Whether it be in Nicaragua, Iraq, the homelands of the Sioux or elsewhere on this "muddy ball" that we call home.
The freed bomber, should have remained in custody until the end of his life, for what he did. That is without question. But your campaign to destroy the jobs of ordinary men and women in the United Kingdom is as twisted as the intelligence you used to tell us that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction.
As a society, for years, you funded the IRA, sponsoring murders,kneecappings and summary torture and execution on the streets of Northern Ireland and bombings on the streets of the UK, yet it was only with 9/11 and the harsh results of terrorism being hammered home on American soil, you ceased your funding of murderers on our soil.
Now you cry wolf, now you shed tears of anger, because our leaders have decided to free this man. I do not agree with it, but I live in a democracy and the decision to free him was taken under a "democratic umbrella". That democracy was hard fought and won, by the generations who gave their lives during WW2 to ensure tyranny did not win. Sadly you cannot turn democracy on and off. Not all the decisions made will be agreed with by the majority, but the most important thing, is that the decisions are made with the political mandate, which has been handed to those in power, by those who have exercised their right to vote. I personally did not agree with our soldiers being sent to Iraq or Afghanistan, but I voted for the government and therefore abide by their decisions.
SO please stop this small minded anti British/Scottish nonsense and cast the microscope over the blood your countrymen have on their hands. The bible tells us: "Let he whom hath no sin, cast the first stone", perhaps you should put your basket of stones down and use them to "build bridges" instead.......
Plastic Glasses in pubs....
Oh my God, I thought "Big Brother Britain" couldn't get any worse, but I read today that the government is investigating the feasibility of forcing pub goers to drink from "Plastic Glasses".
Why you ask, is it "elf an safety", is it "greener", what other possible reason could the arbiters of our personal freedoms have for inflicting yet another blow to pub culture.
Well, you guessed it...Yes that's right, too many people are badly injured by thugs using beer glasses as weapons. So rather than increase deterents, or give prison terms to violent scum, our good old "PC government" are going to do what they do best. "Punish the majority of law abiding citizens" rather than deal with the scum......WOOP WOOP WOOPITY WOOP! what an awesome idea, I bet it took at least two "think tanks" and an "all party committee" to come up with that ludicrous infringement on our civil liberties. Working on the basis that there are also too many people severely injured by cars, I wonder how long it will be, before the government decide we must all drive foam rubber cars?
Who in heavens name comes up with this complete shite, surely they must have something more productive to do?
Why you ask, is it "elf an safety", is it "greener", what other possible reason could the arbiters of our personal freedoms have for inflicting yet another blow to pub culture.
Well, you guessed it...Yes that's right, too many people are badly injured by thugs using beer glasses as weapons. So rather than increase deterents, or give prison terms to violent scum, our good old "PC government" are going to do what they do best. "Punish the majority of law abiding citizens" rather than deal with the scum......WOOP WOOP WOOPITY WOOP! what an awesome idea, I bet it took at least two "think tanks" and an "all party committee" to come up with that ludicrous infringement on our civil liberties. Working on the basis that there are also too many people severely injured by cars, I wonder how long it will be, before the government decide we must all drive foam rubber cars?
Who in heavens name comes up with this complete shite, surely they must have something more productive to do?
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Warwickshire Police waste £1.4 million of Taxpayers money
Warwickshire police spent nearly £1.4 million pounds of Taxpayers money to police this years "Bulldog Bash". After a concerted campaign to stop it! Claiming it was a "Fund raising event for organised crime". During the weekend the following were the police figures from their own force web site...
Bulldog Bash – Operational Update
During the four-day operation a total of 450 officers and staff from Warwickshire Police and five other surrounding forces were on duty each day.
The operation resulted in:
* 448 people being searched.
* 11 people being arrested, including:
Two men from Birmingham, aged 41 and 44, were arrested in connection with a robbery in Reading.
One man from Hampshire, aged 44 years, was arrested on a recall to prison for fraud and theft offences.
One man from Lancashire, aged 33 years, was arrested for assault.
Six people were arrested on suspicion of drugs offences.
* In total nine lock knives were surrendered, small amounts of substances believed to be cannabis, cocaine and amphetamine were also recovered.
* There were also 13 street cautions for drugs offences and one for possession of an offensive weapon.
All at a cost of £1.4 million pounds. Now if my maths are correct, that is less than one person searched per officer on duty.
Out of 11 arrests, 3 were unrelated to the event. six were for drugs and 1 assault. Which out of a crowd of 23,000 people, I thought was awesome. As for 9 lock knives and a small amount of drugs seized, not exactly worth the investment of £1.4 million quid.
When the event has been well run and violence free for years.
If Warwickshire Police have that much money in the kitty that they can afford to waste it, I would like to suggest they donate it to "Help for Heroes", as our brave lads are up against real danger every day and paying the ultimate price. They could do with the support when they come home that £1.4 million would bring.....IMHO of course...
Monday, August 17, 2009
Late Night Blues
So, another day over on our little ball of mud and it's work tomorrow. Lets hope that the coming week brings the usual round of excitement and challenge we have come to expect. I wandered around the new Princesshay shopping centre today in search of a 21st present for my daughter. How does this temple to consumerism keep going, already there are empty shops and the ones that are still open are all in the middle of massive sales. Even then, the place was like a morgue! How long will these business's be able to keep going in this current economic climate and how long will it be before "joe public" finally wakes to the fact that as a country we are not only "morally bankrupt" but "financially bankrupt" as well. The government has led us down a path "paved with cash", only now the debts have to be paid and the public purse is empty. I fear the rise of extremist politics, brought on by the stark fact that ordinary men and women can no longer afford to live! Or at least not in the manner to which they have become accustomed, these hard working people are seeing those that do not work and those that sponge off the state, getting everything, whilst they fall by the wayside as their companies lay them off, or their business's go bust. Not exactly a recipe for happiness and contentment. The question that needs asking, is "will someone get a grip of the rudderless HMS Great Britain" before it founders on the rocks? or will Nu Labour just continue following their course to destruction.? Who knows? but someone really needs to for all our sakes.....
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Lions Led By Donkeys
Yet again we see the coffins of more of our brave lads coming through "Wooton Bassett" on their way home from Afghanistan. When will Gordon Brown, do the one thing to restore his reputation and negate his lacklustre role in this sordid war and "PULL OUR TROOPS OUT"!
Historically Afghanistan is unwinnable, yet we the public are treated to the endless streeling BS that this government spouts to justify our role there. We are told that it is too "make our streets safe from terrorism", we are told it is to lessen the flow of drugs into this country, we are told the Afghans want us there. None of which cut any ice. We were told that we were in Iraq, because of WMD's only there weren't any. Dr Kelly was blatantly murdered by the establishment as he was an embarrassment to "B Liar and Co", without him putting a spanner in the works, TB could justify jumping on Bush's coat tails and going into Iraq.
The simplest thing we can do, is pull out our forces and bring them home, strengthen our Navy and patrol our coastline, using the Royal Navy and the Raf, backed by the Army on the ground. Any drug smugglers intercepted, just sink their cargo and send them back to wherever they came from. Simple and cheaper than prison. Stop people smugglers and maintain our sovereign integrity. Then we should ensure, that our troops are only sent abroad to intervene in areas where we have legitimate interests, or where the lives of British Nationals are at risk. Meanwhile, the Afghans and the Taliban, can happily bomb themselves back into the stone age and create a regime of their choice.
Historically Afghanistan is unwinnable, yet we the public are treated to the endless streeling BS that this government spouts to justify our role there. We are told that it is too "make our streets safe from terrorism", we are told it is to lessen the flow of drugs into this country, we are told the Afghans want us there. None of which cut any ice. We were told that we were in Iraq, because of WMD's only there weren't any. Dr Kelly was blatantly murdered by the establishment as he was an embarrassment to "B Liar and Co", without him putting a spanner in the works, TB could justify jumping on Bush's coat tails and going into Iraq.
The simplest thing we can do, is pull out our forces and bring them home, strengthen our Navy and patrol our coastline, using the Royal Navy and the Raf, backed by the Army on the ground. Any drug smugglers intercepted, just sink their cargo and send them back to wherever they came from. Simple and cheaper than prison. Stop people smugglers and maintain our sovereign integrity. Then we should ensure, that our troops are only sent abroad to intervene in areas where we have legitimate interests, or where the lives of British Nationals are at risk. Meanwhile, the Afghans and the Taliban, can happily bomb themselves back into the stone age and create a regime of their choice.
Long Time No Post
Well here we are, how time fly's when you are having fun! Nothing much has changed in the world, at least not for the better. Surprisingly the predictions from my Dec 2008 post came true and the recession is biting hard. The useless shower that is the "Labour Government" is still taking the country on a "one way trip down the shitter" and the general public seem more interested in the activities of this countries second rate media stars than they are in our ruination. "Dumbing down en mass methinks".
Budleigh Salterton remains the hotbed of "Latent Nimbyism", with every idea to bring a bit of life to the town being flamed by the "geriatrica" as usual. Perhaps that's what makes the place so quaint....?
The summer has been as crap as any of recent memory and I am sick of the sight of skint morose northerners, wandering around Exmouth and Budleigh without "two brass halfpenny's" to rub together. I know times are tight, but if you cant afford a holiday, don't take one. Stay and be miserable at home.
I have just come back from visiting the battlefields of Normandy and the First World Wars cemeteries around Ypres in Belgium. It is the second time I have been and it is just as sad as the first. We started at Pegasus Bridge and made our way back toward St Mere Eglise. For three days, then rode our motorcycles to Ypres and the surrounding memorials and sites of interest. Very sobering and something I think every British School child should do, alongside a visit to Auschwitz, Oradour Sur Glan and Anne Franks House.
Whilst away an old school friend asked me to write a letter on her behalf to our local MP Hugo Swire, she regularly reads my letters to the paper and required my skills as a scribe.
It would seem, that our "Caring Sharing Labour Government" is insisting on cutbacks within the NHS trust and locally, they are intent on closing several homes for mentally handicapped adults and "dumping them onto the vagaries of the profit led private sector care system" allegedly to give them "Choice"...Don't you just hate that word, these people don't want choice! they want care, attention, warmth and kindness. They want stability, tranquillity and a routine which allows them to lead a calm existence. What they don't want, is to be ripped out of a happy well ordered environment, where they have been for up to 15 years and plunged into some hell hole, where they are a "cash cow" not a human being.
Why why oh why is it always the ill, the handicapped and the infirm or elderly who suffer at the hands of Nu Labour. If they want to cutbacks, spend less on useless pen pushers, quangos,focus groups, ethnic diversity officers and all the PC bullshit that infests every nook and cranny of the public sector. I thought Blair was possibly the worst PM in my lifetime, but Brown is rapidly filling the boots that Tony left him.
Oh well rant over for now! back soon with some more tit bits from my world...........
Budleigh Salterton remains the hotbed of "Latent Nimbyism", with every idea to bring a bit of life to the town being flamed by the "geriatrica" as usual. Perhaps that's what makes the place so quaint....?
The summer has been as crap as any of recent memory and I am sick of the sight of skint morose northerners, wandering around Exmouth and Budleigh without "two brass halfpenny's" to rub together. I know times are tight, but if you cant afford a holiday, don't take one. Stay and be miserable at home.
I have just come back from visiting the battlefields of Normandy and the First World Wars cemeteries around Ypres in Belgium. It is the second time I have been and it is just as sad as the first. We started at Pegasus Bridge and made our way back toward St Mere Eglise. For three days, then rode our motorcycles to Ypres and the surrounding memorials and sites of interest. Very sobering and something I think every British School child should do, alongside a visit to Auschwitz, Oradour Sur Glan and Anne Franks House.
Whilst away an old school friend asked me to write a letter on her behalf to our local MP Hugo Swire, she regularly reads my letters to the paper and required my skills as a scribe.
It would seem, that our "Caring Sharing Labour Government" is insisting on cutbacks within the NHS trust and locally, they are intent on closing several homes for mentally handicapped adults and "dumping them onto the vagaries of the profit led private sector care system" allegedly to give them "Choice"...Don't you just hate that word, these people don't want choice! they want care, attention, warmth and kindness. They want stability, tranquillity and a routine which allows them to lead a calm existence. What they don't want, is to be ripped out of a happy well ordered environment, where they have been for up to 15 years and plunged into some hell hole, where they are a "cash cow" not a human being.
Why why oh why is it always the ill, the handicapped and the infirm or elderly who suffer at the hands of Nu Labour. If they want to cutbacks, spend less on useless pen pushers, quangos,focus groups, ethnic diversity officers and all the PC bullshit that infests every nook and cranny of the public sector. I thought Blair was possibly the worst PM in my lifetime, but Brown is rapidly filling the boots that Tony left him.
Oh well rant over for now! back soon with some more tit bits from my world...........
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