Scrapped My Car? SCRAP THE GOVERNMENT

What I didn't expect was for scrap merchants to be allowed to break the law, openly admit it, and then not be pursued by law enforcement.

My cars were in a garage under repair.

The owner decided to sell the garage.

The owner tells the garage proprietor to omove all cars out of the store.

The cars were put outside, but not on the highway.

The garage is sold.

The cars are sent to a scrap merchant and crushed.

Taken Without Owners Consent is the term for this crime.

The police make sure the time they take to look into it means the CCTV evidence of what happened is erased, and say they can't be bothered because its the bonfire season.

This life breeds hatred.

And in comparison to how servicemen are treated, my woes are just scratches, or sleep in my eye.

and While we are o the Viral marketing Tip...

You are on the verge of a great meandering rant, ladies and gentlemen, because we have a recycling dilemma.

Let's face it now, there are amongst other things 2 things in this country that prevent us from being green:

1. Infrastructure
2. The authorities that manage or control it.

How outrageous that we should have to pay mad rates of petrol and car tax, and then not even have the kind of tarmac on our roads that prevents us from being doused in the spray from the rain that stopped falling. Christ! What we get charged the toilets in the service stations should be made of bone china and our dicks wiped by fawning concubines with fantasy proportions when we are done, and you ladies out there who are motorists, I am sure you can think of something similar that you should be placated with after a hard ride on the road!!

What has this got to do with green? MY POINT IS INFRASTRUCTURE...

One for the Road...
The Highways Agency takes a small fortune off us to dig hole and fill them in again, and then they don't even spend the right kind of money on the surfacing to reduce accidents, congestion and therefore carbon emissions. The motor car does account for some carbon, but the road works and congestion through poor management account for most of that I am sure.

Most other countries make use of every kind of transport means for their goods and services, but we seem obliged to use the roads. And who controls the infrastructure? Why aren't the waterways commercially developed and exploited? Why on this island that we are, can't we use the water around us for transport more efficiently? I haven't researched this, but I know there must be something in it...

And then there's the 'Real World'

And most of you who then say, all wise and noddingly patronising, "Ah yes, but in the ideal world that is all very good, and as we all know..." You should go to hell in a handcart!! Most of you who think like that are already dead in the heart and sycophants to the court!! I get to hear this a lot from people who love their bitterness and use it to define them, so comfortable in their prison of regret and cynical despair they think they have it made. Don't listen to these guys. The truth is most things are usually being done better somewhere else.

Who runs the show?

I guess that is pretty obvious where that leaves the authorities, from the local council who take the money from the supermarkets that produce the goods wrapped in useless packaging, we then have to pay to dispose of. And what does the small business do in all this, who had been paying their business rates all this time, only to be told their part of town was being put out of business. There have been enough satires of this to make my point for me. So who is the council doing it for?

But Who Pays the Ferryman?

I thought they were supposed to be elected by the people for the people...

So why are they watching the people go out of business, then having them throw out consumer rubbish from supermarkets who put them out of business, and then telling the poor downtrodden people that as the council hasn't been properly dealing with the refuse they were charging for all these years, there is now a crisis that we all have to pay more tax for!!!

And blow me if at the same time they don't start selling off the allotment space ( BBC News)we may have otherwise started growing our own food on...

And how do these council allied supermarkets get all the goods they sell? On the poorly maintained roads. These are roads we have paid for by the way, but that we can't use to leave a car outside our own house because nowadays if we haven't gotten road tax it will be carted off, destroyed, and us billed!!!

And why haven't we all got driveways and garages to store our vehicles, and gardens we can grow our own food in?

Because even as the councils are INDISCRIMINATELY carrying off our cars and taxing us for the rubbish their policies have encouraged us to produce, they are still for the greed of it letting the construction industry build houses that are too close together so there isn't the room, they are technologically behind the continent by more than 20 years, and without a driveway or garage that we now need to have by virtue of the authorities' own laws.

A serviceman serving in Iraq had his car towed and crushed because he wasn't there to renew his road tax!!!

So when a government lab and their commercial partner allow the infrastructure to deteriorate to such a degree that their viruses leak out into our surroundings from a poorly maintained disposal drain, simply because they couldn't agree on who should spend the money, DON'T THAT JUST SAY IT ALL?

But, of course, it must have been sabotage (The Telegraph)...

...I will leave you all to decide on that one, I have already laughed it out of court.


Can I say it? Yes:

Ladies and Gentlemen, we are OFFICIALLY living in a SICK COUNTRY!

What didn't I say about the PROPAGANDA AFFAIR

Yesterday I wrote about the proaganda machine in operation through the British Press, and the fact that British Servicemen, and the British public, have been caught up in a propaganda incident outside of the bare facts of what happened to them.

WHAT I MISSED OUT.

My blog wasn't supposed to be a balanced comment, as it was a reaction beyond the limits of my patience at the blatant propaganda games being played, and a hit directly at the lack of objective reporting.

I completely ignored mention of the Iranian perspective, because I didn't want to peel off and go through the multivarious onion layers of the circumstances of the affair.

But frankly I think I should put that straight now.


An Iranian commentator was on BBC News 24 yesterday with a perfectly valid point, and he seemed to be the only view that they had tried to acquire from within Iran.

He provided a simply analogy, which I am going to summarise without exploring how appropriate or valid it is, but with the comment that at least any half informed thinker should consider it:

If Syria were to send a task force from the Middle East to Ireland, during the worst of the Troubles, invade Ireland to impose their solution, and then patrol threateningly with a battle group around British Coastal Waters, Britain might get a little nervous and defensive.

For another point of view, today I used blog search to see how my blog had rated on the search-o-meter. Not famously, but what did asides come up
was a deal of other opinions on propaganda, media treatment of Iran, and a snapshot of opinion from inside Iran which I think people should read from Officialy me!!!'s Iranian Thoughts (I don't know where the second 'l' went in officialy - you will have to ask Shahab). To you, Shahab, I say thanks.

For an alternative, polarised 'Western dissident' view on things, look to Chimes of Freedom and ask yourselves what is the environment that makes educated people be so radicalised in their pessimism about their homeland?

The BBC AND HAVE YOUR SAY

The BBC run a blog-style comments service on their website called
"Have Your Say", where you post your views on their news items and they get moderated.
Today there is a lot of comment on on 'Can UK and Iran resolve their difference?'
I had a comment which was moderated out. It went something like this:

"Propaganda! Propaganda!

British Diplomats know their job, therefore understand the protocol to apply to this incident between the UK and IRAN.

Comments on 'concern for our captured troops, or a need to see them fit and well for their families, or concern for their families, and admissions under duress, are propaganda from our side, which are published through the press.

We in the UK should be aware we are subject to this propaganda through our news channels as the Iranians are.

Our servicemen are well drilled, and know their jobs.

They carry out their duties professionally.

Whatever their circumstances of capture, you can be pretty sure that they have followed correct procedures during their capture.


Whatever the machinations of our politicians and their use of our press to convey their messages to the rest of the world and to us, we should not doubt our servicemen deserve and need our support. They are from us.


BUT THEIR ACTIONS AND THIS INCIDENT SHOULD NOT BE USED AS A WAY OF CONTROLLING OUR OPINION THROUGH THE MEDIA.

• Stop using our servicemen as propaganda, and support them.


• Stop putting them in the line of fire without giving them the best equipment and support to do their job"

BBC, YOU HAVE COMMITTED AN OFFENSE AGAINST THE PEOPLE YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO INFORM AND EDUCATE, and frankly you have shown the same disregard for our military as the politicians in this. Shame on you. AND OF COURSE SHAME ON ALL THE OTHER BRITISH NEWS CHANNELS FOR FOLLOWING SUIT.

Of course as the original comment was limited to 500 words it was less verbose and detailed, but I have taken its essence and expanded it.

We Come In Peace, Shoot To Kill

Maybe there is something right and proper going on that we aren't privvy to, or else this is the accepted procedure for arbitration on the international stage, or else they are really leading us down the garden path for reasons we definitely would not like, I DON'T KNOW, but I will say that things have taken a predictable turn today.

A littl while ago, we had no aggressive policy tiwards Iran.

Then, we had an incident where the Iranians have APPARENTLY taken servicemen inside Iraqi waters, who were operating beyond the umbrella of their support, and are holding them for interrogation but in good conditions.

You know, the sort of thing that happens every now and again.

And General Blair has decided to rattle the sabre.

They were operating under a UN mandate, so I presume this statement has come through UN Channels.

Are we following a pattern here:

1. Invade Afghanistan on a liberation tour, and now we have the most heroin production from there hitting our streets since ever.
2. Invade Iraq to destroy weapons of mass destruction, which have never been found, and now they have the worst and most bloody violence they have ever known, including under him.
   
3. Find a pretext to snarl at Iran, who have been pursuing a nuclear policy, which of course we had no intention of reacting militarily to - what price will we, or the Iranian people, pay for this course of action?

Just a word of incidental remark.

You ma remember that a year ago the Lancet, a respected medical journal, reported that 650,000 Iraqi civilians had died as a result of the invasion of Iraq. At the time, George Bush himself poo-poohed the figures as ridiculous and based on unfounded methods, and the British Govt (though I can't remember specificall which marionette made the mouth gestures), made similar disparaging remarks, saying we were better off trusting the Iraqi Government official figures of 65,000.

WELL, YESTERDAY GOVERNMENT STATISTICIANS CONFIRMED THE LANCETS FINDING WERE BASED ON METHODS OF VERY CLOSE TO BEST PRACTISE, AND IF ANYTHING THEIR METHODOLOGY MIGHT UNDERESTIMATE THE NUMBER OF IRAQI CIVILIAN DEAD.

So just in case you missed it here it is again: British Government statisticians have confirmed that the Lancets findings a year ago (and don't forget now they are 1 YEAR OUT OF DATE), THAT 650,000 IRAQI CIVILIANS HAVE DIED AS A DIRECT RESULT OF THE U.S.A./BRITISH LED INVASION OF IRAQ, WERE PROBABLY ABOUT AS GOOD AN ESTIMATE AS YOU ARE LIKELY TO GET. NO QUESTION.

That is 500 people per day on average.

Or 2.5% of the population of Iraq.

Just thought you might like to know..

Anyway, as regards the latest "diplomacy" with Iran, how about a show of hands:

Do you think:

1. There is something right and proper going on that we aren't privvy to, OR
   
2. This is the accepted procedure for arbitration on the international stage, OR
3. They are really leading us down the garden path for reasons we definitely would not like, OR
4. They are crazy politicians playing God and JR Ewing's Dallas, OR
5. There is something very noble going on, and God moves in mysterious ways, OR
6. Something else?

DO Let me know...

WHAT BUDGET?

WELL?

Why MPs are Wankers

This time I couldn't help myself.

I know its rude to call someone a wanker, but really the absurdity of it all beggars belief.

But I should at least explain myself.

This week, the almighty mother of all parliaments, Old Princess Windy Drawers Herself, The Bods at the Palace of Westminster, decided unilaterally to instruct the subjects of this fiefdom to

reduce carbon emisions by 60%, though MPs wonder if tht's enough (click link)

Still, I am sure they mean well, scrabbling to get to the front of the green party photoshoot (note I didn't write Green Party).

But this is not just a meandering babble.

I just wanted to pose the question: How green is the building we all pay for that they blow off their hot air in?

Lets put it this way:

• The 'appalling' energy wastrels of Westminster
  was the Telegraphs report title in 2005. They give a series of comparisons, I have picked:

The Commons alone used enough electricity to supply a town of 5,000 households for a year and it costs £181.53 for each MP and peer just to heat the Palace of Westminster.

The Mandarins are howver not standing on their laurels, and have proposed a series of measures, you can look at them by clicking here, but I have pulled out a few points. Being done:

1. Replacement of hot water calorifiers with heat exchangers;
2. Improvement of the Press Area ventilation;
3. Installation of secondary glazing;
4. Working with the Carbon Trust {they can tell that to the newly ventilated journalists}

Being considered:

1. installation of roof insulation;
2. Draught proofing of windows;

Amongst other things.
Well really.

How about moving out of a drafty old building that can never be energy efficient except when it is set on fire for a big marshmallow toasting fest one bonfire's night, sacking all the old fat Shelobs mooching around its dusty damp corridors, and everyone going somewhere else built for purpose to a budget agreed in advance and kept to by contracted agreement and in law (they can pass them after all).

You see, they don't mind telling us how bad we are at taking care of the environment, but, well, they are wankers, aren't they?

In the meantime, here's another raft of headlines telling us how bad we are, with links:

• we throw food in the bin
• rubbish is OK left in the street for 2 weeks in summer, says perilament, councils can save by not collecting it, but charging the same amount in council tax
  

I Wish I hadn't Said That

There's a new game on the Block at Downing St.

Bus driver Tony has decided to show a little regret...
... at the fact that he said hew was going to retire...

... BUT ONLY BECAUSE OF THE TROUBLE IT HAS CAUSED THE LABOUR GOVERNMENT IN THE TIME BETWEEEN STATEMENT AND TRANSITION.

Not for any other reason.

Not because he doesn't want to go.

Lets see what the next round brings in the game of 'I wish I hadn't said that'.

• Wish I hadn't said 'Invade Iraq'?


• Wish I hadn't said 'If you want a house from that awfully nice conman Cherie, that's fine by me, I am sure there will be nothing underhand involved'.


• Wish I hadn't said 'Look here Blunkett'...


• Wish I hadn't said 'Pensions need ringfencing and protecting? Don't be daft!'


• Wish I hadn't sung, mockingly,

  {pause}

  in my wild youth,

  {pause, smiles disarmingly, twinkle of humour}

  'Old Prime Ministers never die, they just turn to God and pray (for forgiveness)'

Not likely.

But hey, what might the prime minister Wish He Hadn't said?
Answers on a comment to this blog!!!
Worthy responses gratefully published

Kids Die, the Big Man is Appalled

TB has uttered all sorts of sounds of horror at the news of murder afoot in South London over the past 2 weeks.

The only trouble is his comments sound trite and bored.

TRITE,
AND BORED.
MURDER.

Maybe Iraq has made him a little hard hearted. Hang on, death by bullet is horrifying, so TB can't have been PM when all that kicked off...

Meanwhile his home secretary John Reid has had a very useful session with the London Police Authorities, where they have discussed loads of useful ideas.

I am so fed up with their cant I can't even be bothered to check the exact details of who said what to whom.

However, let DC the comic come charging in with his Point Of View: The Dad's need to be there more.

I don't know how much weight the stereotype of absentee Afro Caribbean father carries, but I do know a number of very loving and caring, professional or otherwise, fathers of African descent, so I guess he can't mean them.

And in rolls Annie Oakley Widdecombe with her reform them in jail banner.

Oh God!!

I think politics is getting just a little too surreal, when David Icke seems to be more sincere than the 'serious' crew.

On Gordon Brown

It always makes me laugh to hear a fat man talk about a lean economy...

But anyway, I want to know why we as an in debt nation of borrowers should get excited about getting further into debt by taking on the expense of hosting the world cup, and make no mistake it will run to a loss, when we are already being told the bid for the Olympics was half of what the current cost estimate stands at, and that is 5 years away!!!

Well, next time I hear someone order a double whopper with cheese and a DIET coke, I will think of Gordy {Though to be honest, I am sure his policy advisors and private secretary would probably order it with mayo too!}, I will think of his his lean economy, and I will think of all that preaching about sound housekeeping and financial prudence we get from our 'betters' in Westminster, not to mention all that crap about carbon footprints, which don't by the way, get reduced by Prestige Development Projects.

If they are hell bent on spending OUR money this way at least don't build it all in a part of the country that will be 40 metres under water when temperatures go up from the carbon produced by the diggers, and then be arsy enough to tax us for global warming.

I COMMEND THIS BUDGET TO THE HOUSE!

Ruth amid the alien gongs

I must admit I don't really know what to say about Ruth Turner getting bonged for the gongs, except there's a couple of smart catchphrases in there.

Maybe this one is just a case of them getting wrong directions on the way to number 10, again, and thinking it was OK to sneak through a private auction fo seats in the House. Why don't they team up with Malcolm Glazier, he seems to know how to get something for a lot and then make the something pa for it all. Maybe they could work out a new tax called vote labour in tax?, use that to make us pay huge amounts for their election campaign and then take all the proceeds from the win, like lecture circuits, holidays abroad at celebrity homes, directorships when they retire from govt, etc. Oh, they already do this. Oh well.

Organic CJD Burgers

When DAFT HEAD Megabland, oh, sorry, this is fact, no need for barely fictitious pseudonyms to avoid legal proceedings, I will startb again.

Gentle Reader,
WHEN David Miliband, the environment secretary, was reported as believing organic food brought no benefit, it reminded me of a certain photo shoot of a conservative minister with his daughter, John Gummer, in which he pushed a beef burger in front of her nose during the BSE crisis back in 1990.

Miliband said: “It’s only 4% of total farm produce, not 40%, and I would not want to say that 96% of our farm produce is inferior because it’s not organic.” The hands of civil servants, the FSA, and the farming lobby in that methinks.

No matter that he has forgotten his future king is one of the largest organic producers in the country, takes it seriously, and does pretty well by it too.

No matter that the Soil Association outlines several benefits for soil, quality of meat and quality of life for the livestock.

From personal experience, I am happy to say I no longer buy tomatoes that taste of fish because chemically that was what they were grown out of, and haven't done for a long time. I can also say that the naturall reared chickens and sheep I ate while living abroad tasted far superior to the crap peddled on supermarket shelves, and I bet you that if you ask anyone who was brought up in a country where you are very likely not going to eat food produced by intensive arming methods, they will tell you the very food Miliband is defending is bland in taste and texture.

So why is he being advised to say something that is so debatably untrue? And why is he listening to the advice?


Mr Gummer looked pretty undignified a the time, so when is some of the teflon coating finally going to let down some of the good politicians in the current government when they talk such dubious propaganda?