TALKING OF 'CHAMPAGNE SOCIALISM'.

There seems to be considerable excitement in the 'bird brained' section of British society, due to the advent of JK Rowling's first attempt at a tome aimed at adults. The reviews are generally poor, and in some quarters regarded as a very long party manifesto on behalf of the Labour Party. Evidently, as one would expect from such a limited thinker, it is about class wars; the usual left wing drivel. She also thinks that taxpayer GB should be more generous toward single mothers.

The only thing that I know about this extraordinarily limited authoress, apart from the Harry Potter children's books and subsequent films, is her distinct lack of vocabulary. Understandably, she makes very few interviews, the author has witnessed two. The first confirmed my observations, and the second, this week, when speaking to Will Gompertz, the BBC's Arts Editor, who gave the impression that he was witnessing the reincarnation of Jesus. I would suggest that Gompertz looks like an artist's impression of the Guardian Newspaper. Rowling's responses were bristling with one of the latest 'buzz words' i.e 'issues'. How come that this monosyllabic dimwit, having just delivered a book in excess of 500 pages, cannot think for herself? She is not alone of course; most news reporters and sporting personalities spend their time 'focusing' on, well anything. Any writer who hasn't got their own style, with the vast number of words available to them from the English language, is indeed backward.


BRING BACK P.G WODEHOUSE.

IT'S EITHER 'QUESTION TIME' OR 'LISTEN WITH MOTHER'.

The winter schedules are returning to our TV screens, not least, our weekly dose of child-like politics by way of 'Question Time'. QT is typical of the BBC, a mixed political panel, plus a so-called celebrity, normally a 'champagne socialist', this week it was Steve Coogan. Now he is a waste of space when talking politics. His infantile manner, going on about plebs at every verse end, that was when he wasn't casting derogatory remarks about private education, which to him is the confined domain of the Tories. He was obviously unaware that he was sitting next to Harriet Harman, deputy leader of the Labour Party, who had enjoyed a private education. The audience, as ever, was predominantly of the 'left'; selected largely to include Labour's client voter, people very often 'on the take'. Perhaps it would be fair to acknowledge Coogan's response regarding the deplorable situation in Rochdale, where a group of Asian men have been charged for grooming schoolgirls for sex. This has been going on for some time, and was known to the authorities; he at least suggested that the inaction was due to politically correct concerns.

The questions, as ever, were banal, ignoring  the chaos in the European Union. Whatever goes on in the UK is small beer, as we won't make any progress until we shed the yoke that is control from Brussels. The crowd, nevertheless, is always enthusiastic about taxing the wealth creators, with little or no attempt to get off their own backsides. They actually think that somebody else should find them a job, presumably by spending more of taxpayer GB's money. Another fact that is totally ignored, and that no panelist dare mention, which part of the £5trillion deficit do we spend in paying for all this 'robbing Peter to pay Paul' nonsense.

At least the programme is fodder for blogging purposes, and over the season, should include the odd 'maverick'.

WE CAN ONLY HOPE.

FLOODING AND YEARS OF POLITICAL INEPTNESS.

The weather in the UK is at it again, and the only people who lack the will to do anything about it appear to be our political class. There is nothing new about this inaction; for years they have disregarded the almighty problem of overcrowding in this small island, particularly in England. We have, therefore, seen endless housing being built on land that should be there acting as 'flood meadow'. They are now thinking of building on 'green belt', the very lungs of the country. All this limited thinking also reduces the amount of land available for agriculture. This lot, not unlike their predecessors, out of the opposite corners of their mouths, are spouting on about green issues, when they are having to import more of our food, very often by air; all the time increasing green taxes on these services.

We must rapidly be reaching the point when the electorate will have had enough, it can't be far away. I'm not thinking here of a change of Government, more a change of how we govern the country on behalf of the people who pay the bill i.e. taxpayer GB. Surely the British famed tolerance will reach breaking point.


THESE POLITICIANS SHOULD BE FACING CHARGES.

CLEGGOLAND 2012.

Having chugged into the town of Brighton for their annual conference, the Lib-Dems were very quickly into verbally kicking anybody who aspires to work and do well; particularly anyone with a property valued at over £1million. These houses appear mainly in the southeast of England, mostly around London. Naturally, they are not really worth that amount, but the result of the craze for low interest of a few years ago, enticing folk to borrow money that never existed. We have arrived at the point where those heavily in debt, due to these mortgages, according to Deputy Prime Minister Clegg, are about to be hounded for higher taxes; or at least be vetted to ensure that they are not getting away with anything. It's called 'job creation'.

Leftwingers so enjoy playing to the gallery, appealing to the masses, many of whom just live off the labours of the hard working. Logically, instead of scaring such people off to distant lands, we need to encourage them to invest even more here in the UK. Another suggestion seems to be, to set up a taxpayer GB sponsored government lending bank to kick-start small businesses. One wonders who will be making the decisions; not to mention the inevitable waste, judging by any previous attempts over the years. How many Lib-Dems are capable of making such decisions with our money? Not many.

The main problem with the current scenario, is that Cameron got into bed with this bunch of pseudo-socialists, allowing himself to be blackmailed regularly; operating a quid pro quo system, with a minority party making up the numbers.


AND THE DEBT KEEPS ON MOUNTING.

PLAYING WITH NUMBERS.

Would-be economists love informing us about their theories on getting the world out of the current financial mess in which it finds itself. The BBC commenced a short series this week entitled: 'Masters Of Money', presented by economics reporter, Stephanie Flanders. Flanders is a contemporary of 'All Ed' (Balls) and 'Ed 'Thoroughly Modern' Miliband, making a cosy little troika of Marxists. Most folk interested in the subject would have guessed, that the first name out of the hat would be John Maynard Keynes. Keynes theory was always to borrow money to work oneself out of debt; plus the fact that the world cannot stand by and watch a nation wither on the vine, as was the case with Germany after the 1914/1918 war. The second aspect obviously proved to be correct; as history tells us of the rise of Hitler. Borrowing, however, is a far more contentious issue. When borrowing, the repayments are always going to be more. To honour the debt, therefore, a vibrant financial services, plus a manufacturing base are basic essentials, not to mention plenty of foreign customers. Relying on buying our own goods won't do the trick, because we have to import the raw materials.

According to Adam Fergusson's book, 'When Money Dies', Keynes was way off the mark in his predictions for the outcome of the calamity that was the Weimar Hyper-Inflation of the early 1920's. Following the Wall Street Crash of 1929, Keynes was peddling his theories even more, and it could be that certain influential politicians were listening. Alistair Cooke certainly thought so in his historical series on America, maintaining that the two practitioners of the theory of spending your way out of trouble were Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Adolf Hitler. Ultimately it did Hitler no good at all, and many historians would suggest that it was WWII that saw off the depression that had devastated the USA through the 1930's.

The problem with such TV programmes is that they tend to miss out the fact that customers are essential. Should the Westminster Parliament decide to proceed with the high speed train proposal, for example, it would only be throwing tax payer GB's money away, as it will never pay for itself. Added to which, it will scar beautiful countryside.

THESE SO CALLED EXPERTS SHOULD STICK TO MONOPOLY.

INTELLIGENCE IS ALL.

The British coalition government, under the guidance of Education Secretary, Michael Gove, has eventually got around to changing the type of examination to be taken by pupils, something that should put them in good stead for entering the workplace in their mid/late teens, or, propel them onto advanced education, preparing them for university. Businesses need capable youngsters, not half-baked passengers. For some years, the examination has not been just a written test, course work has also been considered for the grading, to give a final result. This test was aimed at every student, but in order not to expose the less academic student, a greater breadth of grades was introduced. A 'one size fits all' system. This is the same practise that has seen the Euro currency fail so miserably. A method of passing almost everyone participating. If the same principle were adopted in the Olympics, every athlete would receive some sort of medal.

In their book: 'Freakonomics', Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt point out, that assessing students on course work gives the opportunity to shine by 'marking up' the work of their charges; even if such activities have been few and far between, this does give the teacher a chance to look more competent. One can imagine that the Labour opposition is describing such a move as horrendous, an indictment on the teenagers prospects; ignoring the fact that so many youngsters are unemployable, because they are not up to the task, due to 'dumbing down'. They will also be aware, that the under-educated masses could disappear. This would expose the obvious lack of intelligence in the Parliamentary Labour Party.


IT WILL BE MANY YEARS BEFORE WE GET THE RESULTS.

THE BROTHERS AND SISTERS ARE AT IT AGAIN.

Here in Britain, we have this week witnessed the annual conference  of the Trades Union Congress. The usual suspects were all on parade, after all, they haven't got anything more important to occupy their time, so they might as well recommend the usual mayhem. The dazzling 'pink hue' of Bob Crow, RMT (transport workers), Len McCluskey, Unite and Dave Prentis, Unison. They select names that suggest togetherness, but only between themselves. The rest of us can go to hell. They are coercing their membership to have strike action across the board, in an endeavour to increase their terms and conditions of employment. This is against a back-drop of recession/depression, take your pick. These three in happydrome wouldn't normally have to get out of bed to create trouble; I'm sure that they could bring this about lying in bed with a mobile phone.

It is worth bearing in mind, that these characters of ill repute form the backbone of financial support for the Labour party; they made sure that Ed 'Thoroughly Modern' Miliband became leader of the party, because he would be their puppet, perhaps muppet would describe the dimwit more accurately.

So the foregoing is how workers' representatives tackle the financial predicament in which GB, along with much of the western world, finds itself.


AND WE WONDER WHY WE ARE IN THE RED.

MANY DEAD, BUT THE LIES LIVE ON.

The author was in the crowd at Hillsborough, Sheffield, on that fateful day in 1989, when a number of Liverpool football supporters were crushed to death following a stampede by late arrivals to the match. My place of observation was from the main stand, in line with the penalty area, at the Lepping's Lane End. My initial recollection was, in pointing out to one of my colleagues, the plight of a young blond haired boy, lying on the ground about 20 yards ahead; as suspected, we subsequently learned that he had died.

From our position, we couldn't see the the happenings at the entrance behind the stand in question; the surge, however, was hardly controlled. Nevertheless, as the spectators endeavoured to escape the mayhem, the police reacted, quite properly, by creating a cordon across the pitch, to stop any possible altercation between the two sets of fans. Many of whom would not have recognised the cause of the mounting disaster. A dreadful disaster, where the supporters ensconced in apparent safety, having arrived in good time for the kick-off, were trampled, many to death, by marauding late comers.

What we should be told, quite openly, was the reason for all these late arrivals? I'm sure this question should have arisen at the ongoing inquests and discussions. Were there hold-ups which had delayed coaches and transport in general? Did the stampeding mob consist of 100% ticket holders? Had they threatened to run amok in the city centre, to cause a different type of mayhem? Something which many in authority would reveal, is a regular threat by incensed crowds, when being denied one's desire.

The crux of the dreadful consequences of that day lay in the re-opening of the entrance gates at Lepping's Lane, probably brought about by the pressure mounting against the wrought iron gates and fencing, because this is where the disaster could have occurred. We are not suggesting here, that had the ugly scenes should have been retained at that point, which would have culminated in severe injury and possible death, would have been preferable. It would, however, have saved the the innocent legitimate supporters, many of whom died.

The following Wednesday, having noticed on the Midland's News that the Worcester police force had been chosen to head the investigation into the tragedy, I rang the number displayed on the TV screen. My call was met with appreciation, giving the impression that I could be helpful; as you might have guessed, that was the last I heard from them.

There were many mistakes made that day, but ask yourself this: As a police officer observing the mob crushing others against the railings, what would you have done?

WHY DO PEOPLE NEED TO BE HERDED BY POLICE? INCIDENTLY, THERE APPEARED TO BE A QUICK RESPONSE BY THE AMBULANCE EMERGENCY SERVICE.

CHANGES FOR THE SAME EFFECT.

In our absence riding the high seas, Prime Minister Cameron has rearranged the 'deck chairs'; not something that happened too often on our recent cruise. Admittedly, it is too early to say that one of the new ministers won't emerge and start to make recognisable 'conservative noises'. Something drastic needs to happen in the near future, as we progress towards the next general election. A start should be made by discussing the true 'National Debt' of a nominal £5 trillion. Immigration, over taxation, which would include the farcical 'green concerns', and the overbearing fuel tax. The author's advice would be to associate hypothermia with wind farms. Immigration is another costly item; the Human Rights legislation needs to go, as we were much safer before it's introduction, presumably at the behest of Cherie Blair. Self-inflicted health conditions should become chargeable, including a percentage of profit.

Naturally, one of the new junior ministers at the Department of Health brought up the question of 'assisted suicide', suggesting that we should legalise the right of such an act. So what is Anna Soubry doing in this department? The question of 'smoke screen' politics has been around long enough, and is intended to keep the electorate away from the aforementioned' crucial problems.

All these suggestions are long overdue for consideration. The entitlement, living for today attitude, can either finish in an orderly fashion, or much trouble awaits us. Just imagine the return of a high spending Labour regime, the possibility would mean the end for Britain as we know it. The worst thing of all, it would mean a continuation of our EU membership, and would go down with the ship, which has to be the inevitable consequence of the 'Brussels shambles'. Europe, therefore, should be top of the list of parliamentary debate.


DON'T HOLD YOUR BREATH REGARDING ANY OF THE ABOVE SUGGESTIONS.  

LIFE ON THE OCEAN WAVES.

Most folk would expect a sea cruise to be total leisure; well there are always anomalies. We have just returned from a 'Fjords Cruise', including Iceland and Norway. The itinerary should have included, in our return trip from Iceland to Norway, a call at Torshavin, Faeroe Isles, which had to be cancelled due to ferocious sea conditions i.e force 7/8 gales. Naturally this was a pity, missing the opportunity of setting foot on what we would think only to be a name included in the 'shipping forecast'. These windy conditions, however, were not as fierce as the initial east to west crossing, when the boat had to pass through a large 'depression zone' which lasted in excess of 24hrs. Initially, we had 'gale force 8 rising to force 10, with exceptionally high seas. These conditions certainly kept the author out of circulation for a few hours. What is strange, certainly from my perspective, is that lying down, I could ride out the storm, even sleep through most of it, emerging, feeling quite normal.

These comments are not to deter prospective cruise passengers, as I'm sure that not all North Atlantic crossings offer the same challenge, nevertheless, it is not the Mediterranean. We were on board the M.S. Boudicca (Fred Olsen Cruise Lines), and will say that both the service and food were supreme. The restaurant waiters operated with style and professionalism, all Asian I hasten to add. Not a British one in sight. Although not a regular 'cruiser', it is noticeable that the majority of the passengers were retired public servants, teachers etc.; many of whom appeared to be arranging another cruise before the current one had returned to our home port.

Something very serious occurred in my 'mind's eye'; just imagine what the arctic convoys must have faced en route to the old USSR during World  War II; when not removing ice they had to be looking out for mines and torpedo attacks.


NOW THAT IS FEARSOME!