THANK THE LORD IT'S ALL OVER.

For anybody in doubt, Beijing is in China, where recently the Olympic Games were held. What weren't written about so effusively, were the 'behind the scenes' stories of every day Beijing folk. Amanda Platell reminded us in her report of two Chinese female senior citizens, who were imprisoned following their refusal to give up their homes for the development of the stadia complex.





FORGET GOLD AND SPARE A THOUGHT.

WHAT KIND OF ICE CREAM IS A 999 CALL?

The probable answer is that, in Cambridgeshire, you will be asked, by text message, to solve the problem yourself. Should any reader have any doubt on the subject, this week it was reported that a good neighbour was awoken by a banging from what transpired to be burglars breaking into the next door property, the police response was to request support from the caller, in the absence of available manpower(personpower). Any number of which could have been exercising flexible working rights.



What the good people of the district should demand, is an independent review of the police activities, not another police authority, on the night in question. There should be no hiding place should the observation prove that the force was more concerned with PC matters. In such an event, pensions need to be looked at. Particularly those at the top.





IT IS OUR MONEY!

A GOVERNMENT, UNION MIX AND THE ECONOMIC VORTEX.

Hold tight for the roughest ride in recent economic history. All the ingredients are now in place. A governing political party which is bereft of both cash and political nous and from now until the next General Election 'in hock' to the Unions. So what does this mean? Answer: An unelected body is, from here on, making policy on behalf of this disgraceful outfit. That's when the 'weasels' in Brussels are not rocking our boat.



Evidently, the imposition of telling businesses, that from next Spring, employees will be able to demand more flexibility with their hours of work. This move is difficult enough for large concerns, but could be disastrous for small firms. The Government has no choice but to capitulate as it needs party funding supplied by this group of union heads, we could call them the 'easy street boys'. The more members they have on the books presumably the greater their renumeration; not unlike chief executives of local authorities. We could expect catastrophic results for both industry and services, that can only be covered by even higher taxes.



The catch twentytwo situation leaves us with a quandary of 'damned if you do, and damned if you don't'. Should the Government survive for the full term, the economic situation will persist for many years. If, however,we witness a collapse at Westminster, any subsequent Government will soon be vilified for our poor economic performance. Which brings us to one of the successes
of Socialism/Communism, under education, under education, under education! Liberal Socialism also excels in sexual diversity, something else that won't keep the larder replenished.











THE STIGMA MUST STICK THIS TIME.

ELITISM IS BACK, IF ONLY IN SPORT.

Extraordinary how we accept a superior strata in the world of sport, which after all only gains wealth for the athlete, not the nation as a whole. This is not to denigrate competitors, who spend years of dedication and discipline in order to acquire the standard necessary for selection to represent the country at international level; then going the extra mile(or is it kilometre) to win a medal. Why shouldn't they have a financial reward? The exceptional crop currently performing in the China Olympics have certainly turned up trumps. What is difficult to understand is why we laud our so called footballers to the heavens. Their renumeration is most certainly out of line with their lack of ability, entertainment value and they are certainly operating in a separate economy from the nation generally, which says more about our understanding of economics and the reason people have voted for this Labour government on a regular basis.

Socialism, of course, detests elitism unless political capital is to be made, as mentioned in 'GOLD ALL THE WAY'. We couldn't for one moment expect a Labour minister to rejoice in academic achievement, their view of academia is to dumb down GCSE and A level standards to make themselves feel good and unchallenged.

Two coincidental articles that the author has read recently cover this subect adequately. The head of Eton College, Tony Little, wrote in response to the pathetic "class comments" from that giant of retardation, John Prescott. What is disturbing is that we appear to relish living in a backward society, not wanting to give academic talent the time of day. Well rest assured, eventually don't expect jam on the bread because we have to earn it. This won't come from sporting prowess, but from inventors, engineers etc., Tony Little, along with a few of us know what is required, a high standard of education. Who would consider pouring all our children into a swimming pool anticipating them all to have the same aquatic ability. Nonesense perhaps, but that is how we teach or attempt to teach the three R's.

Leo McKinstry was the writer of the other article regarding excellence. He makes, in essence, the same point which cannot be ignored. Selection for university cannot be a post code lottery. we have to acknowledge and nurture true academic talent for our own survival. Universities are not there to reduce unemployment figures.




SOME PEOPLE ASPIRE TO ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT THE SAME AS IN SPORT.


IT'S TIME TO LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD TO AVOID DISASTER.

BRITAIN ABUSED.

This evening we were obliged to listen to the English language once more being used disgracefully on the BBC East Midlands Today, supposedly a news programme, but is nothing more than thirty minutes of mainly magazine items. The endless army of personnel engaged in this futile broadcast is astounding, mostly using a very downmarket vocabulary, a mix of 'East Enders' and any American TV series. The narrative is bristling with 'really, really'; amazing; brilliant; like; and today "gotten". Can we now insist upon omitting 'British' from British Broadcasting Corporation.



WHERE IS OUR PRIDE? LET US RID OURSELVES OF THIS DROSS.

GOLD ALL THE WAY FOR JOHN MAJOR.

We will, undoubtedly, be subjected to much glad handing, shoulder rubbing, hob-nobbing, not to mention the ludicrous 'photo opportunities' following the nations' achievements at the Olympics. These successes in many cases, however, came about by funding from the lottery which was the idea of the maligned John Major and the last Tory administration. A decision ridiculed by the current government when in opposition, who have since used some of the cash for their political ends, which was not the intention at the inception and should never have been so used.





REST ASSURED THAT TEAM GB (Gordon Brown) WILL MILK THE MOMENT LIKE THE HYPOCRITES WE HAVE BEEN OBLIGED TO ACCEPT.

HOW GREEN WAS MY WELLY.

Having read recently that an estimated 80% of 'Townies' evidently would prefer to live in the country. Fear not, as very soon we will not know the difference between a rural or urban life style, as the countryside gets eaten up by covering even more of our 'green and pleasant land'.



We wouldn't be surprised if a fairly large section of TV viewers are watching the various programmes about farming and country life in general. 'Tales from the country' (Tony Francis), Jimmy Doherty with his current series on advanced farming techniques and Andrew Marr's 'Britain from above'. All of them show our countryside up for what it is, i.e. something to cherish. We destroy this inheritance at our cost.



"ALL TOGETHER NOW"



"WE ARE THE ECO-TOWNIES LITTLE GIRLS AND BOYS" (probably Blears/Flint)

GEORGIA, GEORGIA! NO PEACE I FIND.(Carmichael/Gorrell)

Many a reader will be aware that our title is taken from the song, 'Georgia on my mind', referring to the one in the USA. It is, however, the Georgia in the Caucasus that is currently the centre of attention. I don't suppose for one moment that we shall ever know what the true cause was for the brief conflict. We do understand, nevertheless, that Russia needs little or no provocation to flex it's military muscle. As a people they are far too suspicious, this being an indoctrination from the top. They call themselves a democracy but their existence is controlled by a similar band of 'control freaks', who operate in a fashion akin to the Kremlin of old; making themselves extremely rich, while flying under a flag of convenience.


Strange how, in such a short time, so many oligarchs appeared. Those that became non-conformists, the ones that had a different political perspective and were not prepared to give the 'top brass' a financial 'kick back', wisely went abroad. Those that stayed at home were soon on some trumped up charge, finishing up behind bars.


We are also witnessing a purge against foreign companies, BP in particular. Presumably once the initial hard graft is done, the aforementioned oligarchs want to pick a fight to justify their positions in the eyes of their Goverment. BP could have got of to a sloppy start under their former chief, omitting to dot all the i's and cross the t's.


The disappointing aspect of all this is that the Russians have all these natural resources which are giving them wealth but insist on holding other nations to ransom. Showing not a scrap of intent to trade under reasonable terms.


We in the west can't overly criticise their military aggression in Georgia. This smacks of the pot calling the kettle black. Had we been smart we would have solved the Iraq problem in 1991.







JUST AN OLD SWEET SONG KEEPS GEORGIA ON MY MIND.

EPICUREAN EUROPEAN.

Live, eat and drink for tomorrow we die. In New Labour terms read; spend, borrow and be taxed dry, acting irresponsibly as we the Government are doing. This is the pre-requisite for getting a steady European position and retaining some influence over the beleaguered British taxpayer.





BE WARNED

PROPAGANDA AND THE MEDIA

Much has been written recently about the Governments' misuse of our taxes, commissioning television documentaries informing the nation of how efficient they are. Now there's a surprise!


A particular programme informed us of the advantages so called 'plastic police persons' have given to us, which has made our policing so much better. It would be to our advantage should someone produce a programme explaining why, following three major robberies in our borough at a Post Office, followed by raids on the cash tills (Hole in the wall) twice in the last few months at our local supermarket; large sums being stolen on two of the occasions, the PO. patrons were advised not to question the staff about the raid, and strangely, none of the cases was mentioned on our local BBC TV, which gives us endless trivia in order to pad out thirty minutes. I wonder who makes the decision regarding news 'blackouts'.







IS THIS DEMOCRACY?

INHERIT THE ILL WIND

Lordy! Lordy! How depressing, when the nation could do with large portions of Christian thinking, Richard Dawkins wants to make money doing his anti -God stance. There is
nothing more annoying to mature people than a silly little professor going on about things that cannot be proven. The Creationist will still exist no matter what. The Bible and the good eminating from it is a source to be nurtured, what the individual believes is due to one's own perception.







PLEASE GO AWAY AND TAKE YOUR "BUMPING ALONG THE BOTTOM" THEORIES WITH YOU.

SO! WHAT DOES SOCIALISM DO TO A NATION?

Socialism is, of course, nothing more than a theory, enabling a few, who generally could not hold down a proper job, to organize those that are easily led into the notion that we should all have the same living standard whether or not we work for it. The only difference being that the leaders, the elite, live the life of Larry for pontificating on this stupidity.

We are now witnessing at first hand the devastation created by this thinking. A Labour government into it's third term and a nation struggling to cope. Ignore the lame excuses about the world wide economic downturn, the bouyant international market and universally low interest rates of recent years were never mentioned by our intreped former Chancellor. Such bravado. Here we have a neophyte who milked a successful economy, moving the goal posts when the game was up.

THE AUTHORS ACCEPT THAT NOT EVERYONE HAS THE ABILITY TO BE SELF- SUFFICIENT.

TWO PROPER HEROES

This week saw two personalities pass away. Alexander Solzhenitsyn, a Russian who saw the light, witnessing first hand what socialism does to a nation, and Eric Dowling, one of the inspirations for the film 'The Great Escape'.

Solzhenitsyn: considered to be an author of content rather than style, some content! Born into a Russian Orthodox situation, at an early age changed direction to embrace Marxism, which showed a flaw in his early judgement. His progress saw him being honoured in WW11, during which time he became aware of the burgeoning power of centralised control, and Stalin in particular. His criticism of this is now chronicled universally for all to learn. He had to endure years in a Gulag, during which time he was inspired to write his first novel 'One day in the life of Ivan Denisovich'. This was acheived by committing his scraps of writing to memory, so engraved therein, he was able to finalise what was to become a masterpiece of the second half of the twentieth century, confirming what the logical thinker already knew, the disgraceful excesses of the communist SOCIALIST Soviet Republic. A system much admired by the Elite at home. The Trade Union movement were particularly enamoured by these political thugs. In addition we can add the name of the now Lord Healey. Think about it! Solzhenitsyn went on to put pen to paper writing other anti Soviet masterpieces, which led to his deportation to the USA. However, he could not abide being away from his Motherland, eventually returning to the land of his birth determined to continue his work in opposition. It is difficult for an outsider to establish how he became a fan of Putin, as it is patently obvious that here we have a 'control freak' from the ranks of the KGB, operating in his traditional fashion and hiding behind democracy. This could probably be blamed on old age. HE IS IN DEATH, NEVERTHELESS, A GIANT.

Dowling: Here we have a character who just did the obvious, if captured, being obliged to escape. He was one of the instigators of the of the break out from Stalag Luft 111 in 1944. After all his effort and ingenuity, his name wasn't drawn from the hat as a lucky/unlucky escapist, as disciples of the film 'The Great Escape' will know. Strange that here we have a true hero who defied all the odds, surviving forced marches in bitter conditions, as the Germans retreated from the advancing Russians. The wonderful conclusion to this is that he went on to reach the ripe old age of 92, even after all his ordeals having had a far greater lifespan than the star of the film, Steve McQueen, who no doubt suffered from all the gratuitous living of the cosseted celebrity of a Hollywood idol.

GIVE GENEROUSLY

The BBC can only afford to send between 4/500 hundred people to China for the Olympics, perhaps we should have an additional whip-round for their added enjoyment.

I can recall when the corporation complained that it had to pay higher salaries to their operatives in order to compete with the commercial channels. Well the time is up, we are now becoming more logical and renumerations are to be reversed. Let's get on with the process.

IT IS OUR MONEY REMEMBER!