A Very British Dude

Realpolitik

2009-11-27T21:48:00.002Z

There is no way that the British government wouldn’t either extradite Mr McKinnon (Labour) or invite him into a darkened room in Vauxhall Cross with the Americans in attendance (Conservatives), even the Liberal Democrats if you explained it to them slowly and often enough would allow the Yanks to talk to him. He’s the perfect Cut-out/false flag to any number of intelligence services who would want to hack the US government but don’t want their fingerprints all over their work. The Chinese MSS and PLA secret services spring to mind but they’re not the only ones engaged in hacking. Any agent would thank his lucky stars at finding a good hacker with an autism spectrum disorder who believes in aliens. And you can bet both GCHQ and the NSA will be giving this guy a rather tough interrogation to try and find out if there is a link.

Will the US government go easy on the guy afterwards – err unlikely. The US intelligence community wants blood after the disastrous and botched release of Al-Megrahi by the Scottish Government. In Mr. McKinnon they have their perfect Admiral Byng regards hacking their secure Defence networks. He’s not a US citizen and isn’t going to get voters writing to their Congressman demanding his release (unlike somebody like Pollard or Kadish). The fact that he has Asperger’s syndrome is a bonus, the Yanks will wonder why he didn’t just hit Vegas with Tom Cruse, he could stop off at Area 51 on his way.

Does this mean that there won’t be comeback on the Labour government over this? Well yes and no. They signed this farcical and one-sided extradition treaty, so they should naturally take the blame. Like all their other botched laws and agreements, there is no way any remotely competent government would let this treaty stand. And everybody knows Gordon would be attaching the electrodes to the guys meat and two veg personally if it meant a decent press conference with Obama. But does it make a difference to voting patterns? It adds the odd civil libertarian to the “Anybody but Labour” vote, but most people seem to have more than made up their mind about the incompetence of this current illiberal administration.

Climate Change e-mails

2009-11-27T14:07:00.001Z

There's a very, very good post on the Climate e-mails from the University of Anglia by the Pedant General here at the Devil's Kitchen.

Interesting...

2009-11-27T08:00:00.000Z

...to see the lefties use the phrase "Race Based Organisations" and it not to be pejorative. What? You mean like the BNP?

Are you Grey Squirrel?

2009-11-26T19:09:00.004Z

There have been some scurrilous rumours about our new unelected EU ~~non-entity~~ Foreign Secretary accepting funds from the KGB. Despite it being documented fact that the KGB funded the CND (see Mitrokhin Archives) under their “Useful Idiots” programme. And despite the fact that Lady Ashton was the treasurer of said organisation of useful idiots; she denies any and all rumours linking her, The KGB and their love of handing over big wads of cash to CND dickheads*.

Naturally unlike the peacenik shit for brains who never had the “joy” of living in their Socialist utopia, those that did live on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain are rather reluctant to have this foreign secretary picking up the phone to Moscow to protect their interests. Especially since it could allegedly be her old KGB (Now FSB) handler at the other end; and she could start waffling on about “The Weather in Leningrad is cold this time of year” and “The starlings are leaving the nest”. On the plus side I suppose using her code name could save time. If she says she’s Lady Ashton, then Putin will go “Who the fuck's that?”. But if she allegedly says “It’s Grey Squirrel” then at least Putin will allegedly know he’s speaking to Agent 287451/B.

I can now put the worries of the following nations to rest - Poland, The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Romania and Bulgaria. I have photographic proof that Lady Ashton never accepted funds from the KGB. If you look to Stalin’s right you can clearly see that Lady Ashton is not there. She is therefore innocent of these wicked accusations.

* The money was used to fund hairdressers to fix up the member's dreadlocks and R&D into a better phrase than “Nuclear Power, No Thanks”. As the only thing they came up with was the pitiful “Not in my name” the KGB Pulled funding. The Captain that recommended giving Soviet money to CND in the first place was shot, and the KGB manual was re-written stating that KGB operatives were not to recruit any Westerner whose lips moved when they read “The Famous Five”.

Fundamentalism, Smallpox and Genocide

2009-11-26T09:25:00.006Z

A happy Thanksgiving to all my American readers. For those of us who aren't from the Colonies, this is a celebration of the survival of a bunch of joyless puritanism troublemakers, kicked out of England for wanting to ban Christmas and dancing, who only lived through their first winter thanks to the kindness of the native population.
The Natives were given smallpox, and eventually had their country nicked by way of a 'thank you'. European settlers round the world have never been exactly punctilious in observing treaty resolutions with non-Europeans and this is especially true of the young United States, which freed from the vestigial restraining influence of the British Empire, allowed it to follow its philosophy of ~~lebensraum~~ manifest destiny. The events celebrated today happened a long time before the USA was even a concept, but foundation myths are important.

There were some cool and interesting people cutting around New England, Virginia and Louisiana in the early 1600s, some of whom were there before John Carver's rabble. Plymouth was the only colony to have been founded as an idealogical rather than pecuniary venture, so I have never understood why the USA, a country whose 'business is business' chose the most economically inept bunch of religious fundamentalists, founders of the second least successful colony in the Americas, to be their "pilgrim fathers".

Whilst I love the USA and regard its declaration of independence one of the most perfect political texts ever written, they do have some strange and self-serving ideas about their history. Which is why I call today "fundamentalism, smallpox and genocide" day. Enjoy your turkey.

Hiatus

2009-11-24T13:51:00.002Z

Utterly devoid of inspiration, and filled with a crushing ennui.

This post by Mr Eugenides is very good though. Whilst I have a terrible case of Writer's block and Travelgall has something unpleasant called "work", Readers will have to be satisfied by my occasional pointing to something I like.

Britblog Roundup # 249

2009-11-23T09:06:00.000Z

Britblog Roundup # 249 is up over at Trixy's place.

Hopeless

2009-11-23T08:29:00.005Z

Inspired by the Obama Hope poster, Available as a poster here. H/T to reader George for sending me the link.

In other news...

2009-11-20T11:36:00.004Z

Someone your average accountant wouldn't invite round to dinner because he looks so boring, from a country no-one (not even the people who live there) cares about, has been given a job that no-one wanted and doesn't matter.

We can tell that the president of Europe doesn't matter because the French have not come over all French on us on the news that a Frenchman is not doing the job. They did not even put one up for the role, 'settling' instead for getting a Frenchman into a job regulating an industry, finance, in which we excel, and the French want to destroy.

When faced with a Euro Arse-fucking, Gordon Brown bends over and says "give it to me, big boy, hard as you like". They don't even have to spit first.

Note to the Police - This is a Democracy.

2009-11-20T08:48:00.007Z

Listening to Sir Hugh Orde this morning, I was struck by the notion that there are an awful lot of people currently engaged in running the country who really don't get this whole Democracy schtick.

Sir Hugh announced that if Conservative plans to introduce democratically elected police chiefs were followed through, he would resign from the chair of the Association of Chief Police Officers. The reasons he gave were that such political people would upset the independence of policing - he actually said "this is a democracy". He just doesn't get it. The same argument comes from all technocrats on independent bodies and quangos, of which ACPO is just one. They are using the idea that politics is a dirty word, that 'politics' has no place in the running of the country. They're wrong, because where they say 'politics', they mean 'democracy', with all its messy compromises and public argument which are so abhorrent to the bureaucrat's mind.

Unfortunately the bureaucrats and technocrats are just going to have to suck it up, or fuck off. Bye-Bye, sir Hugh. It's been nice having you with us, and thanks for your hard work in Northern Ireland. Don't let the door hit your arse on the way out....

Cameron may not be everyone's cup of tea, but he's serious about localism, and this plan to bring the police under democratic, local control is as radical as it is overdue. We need to send a message to the people who run the country - not just in the police, but across the whole of the quango state. Independent technocrats do not good governance make, as the Soviet union so comprehensively demonstrated. The people need their say too, especially when they disagree with what you're doing. The police for example have been smashing the motorist and ignoring the burglary for too long. With directly elected chiefs, this will change.

Good riddance to Sir Hugh and his vision of an independent (meaning unaccountable) police force. You're going to be reminded whom you serve, and you clearly don't like it.

Next up: the rest of the Quangosphere.

Credulousness and Doublethink

2009-11-18T15:32:00.003Z

This is the most brilliant example of Victimhood poker from a leftie I've ever seen. Basically Laurie Pennie, (this post should get a mention in dispatches here too) argues that Straight white men cannot be discriminated against, even when they're in a minority and SOAS's student union should not therefore be appointing a Straight, white man's officer. Or at least that's what I thought she was saying through the double think and bollocks.

...white, straight males do not face discrimination on the grounds of race, sexuality or gender – and that to suggest they do marginalises the experiences of oppressed groups. SOAS students’ union women’s officer Elly Badcock said: “Women have a women’s officer because we’re fundamentally disadvantaged in society, and liberation campaigns exist for those who have been systematically and structurally discriminated against, specifically because of their sexuality, gender or race.

“Straight white men have never been discriminated against on these fronts, so claiming that they are an oppressed group smacks of whingeing.”

While we're on the subject of double think and bollocks, here's a brilliant post from Counting Cats dealing with Psychic TV.

I used to think the art of the con was saying what people wanted to hear. It can be and I suspect that is very much the art of the personal one-on-one con but when dealing with masses you just make-up something utterly incredible. You won’t hook in everyone but you will hook-in the sort of people who will then believe the next thing. And the next… And that’s the brilliance of things like Sat TV and the internet. They cast out their lies to a crowd that is atomised. Not a real mass where there might well be a small boy prepared to shout, “But I can see his willy!”

But, then crowds can be manipulated too. And they can also be manipulated by telling them utter bunk so what do I know

This is applicable to socialism and left-wing group think as it is to spiritualism. Mention Gramsci or Marx to give your prejudice an intellectual veneer and ignore the evidence. Shout louder to get the credulous onside.

Go read both.

Thought for the Day

2009-11-18T07:00:00.003Z

Every morning on Radio 4's Today program, ten to eight is the God slot, where some man in a dress, usually with a beard says something inoffensive about how a paranoid schizophrenic who lived several thousand years ago thought that people should be nice to each other, whatever the interpretation of his witterings since. If the speaker doesn't fit this description, then it's a female Daily Mail columnist, who thinks sex is "icky" bleating about how family is important, and one shouldn't shag around, probably at precisely the same time as her husband is up to his nuts in the Au Pair.

Unlikely to appear on Thought for the Day

Some atheists think... ...Every edition of Thought for the Day is a rebuke to those many people in our society who do not have religious beliefs
Terry Sanderson of the National Secular Society needs to get a grip. Secularism is not the absence of Sky-fairy pestering in public life, it is about not giving God-botheres privileged status. 10 minutes on Radio 4 does not mean that secularists are discriminated against, any more than Songs of Praise on a Sunday does. 'In our time' and other thought-provoking slots have dealt with issues without reference to religion, and the Catholic church doesn't kick off about that. Secularists need to accept that Many people believe, and a prayer on the radio does no harm. I take the view that Thought for the day allows both believers, those of faiths other than that being discussed; and indeed atheists too a chance to understand how people of other faiths think.

I find it useful and interesting to think about what Guru Nanack or St. Augustine might have thought about the great issues of the day, whether or not I believe in the God that inspired their belief. Indeed secularists need to Know thy Enemy. After all, in the scale of harm done by religion, Thought for the Day is not exactly the collected sermons of Abu Hamza.

Choo Choo

2009-11-17T19:22:00.000Z

Thomas the Tank Engine was depressed, he was busy shunting trains in a Zanu Labour area, and ZanuLabour areas always depressed Thomas. When he fell asleep in the sidings, chavs always spray painted willies on him. And then the Fat Controller came along, and said...

“Thomas I need you to move some trains in Clapham Junction, Warrington Bank Quay, Preston and Luton. Oh and most importantly of all Barking. Isn’t that exciting?”

“Oh No” said Thomas “More Labour areas, they smell like Salty the Dockside Diesel after the Guano ship arrives”.

“Oh you haven’t heard the news” Said the Fat Controller “They all have shiny new stations thanks to the government”.

“That’s a bit of a co-incidence” said Thomas “It’s not like they are no rubbish stations smelling of urine in Conservative seats”.

“Oh and you also have to go to Crewe” Said the Fat Controller. That’s a Conservative area now but its got a shiny new station too”.

“Oh what a bloody co-incidence. The one seat Gordon Brown wants to win back after it showed wearing a top hat and sneering wouldn’t win you the seat”.

“Look” said the Fat Controller “If you want a letter of thanks from the Prime Minister you’ll stop those comments”.

“He’ll probably spell my name wrong anyway, honestly Percy can spell better than him, and he was hardly the sharpest knife in the box even before the Level Crossing incident”.

“You’re on thin ice Thomas, Remember Harriet the Harridan wants to replace you with a lady tank engine”. Said the fat Controller “And the Troublesome Trucks – Aslef and RMT will make your life difficult. The people are New Labour, and New Labour are the people, remember that”.

Thomas the Tank Engines words to the fat controller were lost as Gordon blew his steam whistle.

With apologies to the Rev W V Awdry

Britblog Roundup # 248

2009-11-17T08:27:00.000Z

Is up over at Clairwil's place.

I'm not going to rise to...

2009-11-16T22:09:00.002Z

...this.

American Cuisine

2009-11-16T12:21:00.003Z

America is a basically uncivilised place. The entire continent has given just two things of worth to world cuisine. New England clam chowder and the Waffle, which may be a Dutch invention, but perfected by our cousins over the pond, who found maple syrup to be its perfect partner. Now it is true that Americans then spoil it by adding bacon (yuk!), and you can rest assured that I will not perpetrate such barbarism.

I would, however, like to make public my deepest thanks to the delightful Momentary Academic for her very kind gift of the mother of all Waffle Irons, which arrived today. I shall be trying it out later, and look forward to Shakespeare, rugby and waffles when she comes over to ~~civilisation~~ the UK in January!

Society's fault?

2009-11-16T10:30:00.003Z

It is an oft heard refrain that it's not the prisoner's fault, it's society's that people commit crime; to know all is to forgive all. And It is an equally oft heard refrain that such a response to crime is an abrogation of personal responsibility and the vast majority of people brought up by single parents on sink estates do not become feral one-man crime waves. Thus the two positions I've characterised as representing the "it's society's fault" and "prison works" stare at each other across intellectual barricades made of Daily Mail and Guardian editorials. Neither, and both are right.

Ben, the blogging lag, makes an interesting observation

There are those who are so physically destructive and dangerous that communities may not be able to deal with them. Prison may make sense in that context, although we should ask ourselves how aboriginal, nomadic societies manage to cope with such people without the luxury of prison

Aboriginal societies would have simply killed such people, but I think more interesting is the extent to which they would not have existed. For all our material wealth, western society is uniquely stressful. Most people are caged lions, pacing up and down a cell far too small for them, and we are not given the opportunity to express the behaviours which we evolved to express, which include violence, and the creation of strong group hierarchies. It takes a lot of conditioning to make people fit into the atomised society we have created. Some people, as a result of flawed upbringings do not have that conditioning necessary to succeed, and some of these end up in prison...

...most of those in prison are not violent or sexual predators. Rather, they are damaged people with messed up lives and little stake in their communities. Putting them in prison not only fails to deal with their particular flaws, it also strips them of what little social and personal capital they had, which helps explain why most return to prison

To rehabilitate the petty thief, the benefit fraudster, the drunken punch-up initiator, the street mugger you need to give people the social capital that will allow the individual to function in society on release.That means prison education. You also need to give them a stake in their communities. That means not allowing decades of CRB checks which prevent some ex-cons getting work. This means accepting that their environment contributed enormously to their behaviour and working with that to try to resolve the problems.

Personally, I think the kafkaesque nature of our criminal justice system fails because the punishment is too distant to the crime for the broken people who enter the criminal justice system to put the two together psychologically. Prison, also isn't the punishment it's meant to be for petty offenders - they spend too little time in prison and loose too little for it to be an effective deterrent, but the experience and record of prison will prevent many offenders getting work, which makes reoffending more likely. Worse than the failures towards prisoners, is the sense amongst victims that justice is rarely done.

What we need is instant punishment which doesn't destroy the life of the perpetrator needlessly. Restitution, cleaning up graffiti, paying for stolen goods should be considered for minor offences. If these can be dealt with inside the community, as they used to be by local magistrates, quickly and efficiently, then crime will become associated with punishment, rather than the tedious and bureaucratic process incomprehensible to most of those within it, which criminal justice has become. For more serious offences like burglary and theft, Flogging is easily understood, unpleasant, inexpensive and quick. Ideal for minor violent or persistent offenders. If carried out in public, there would be a sense of 'justice done' when the miscreant is cut down. Apart from a very sore back, which will trouble him for a few weeks, he can then go about his life having been punished, but not crushed. The flip side of giving a criminal a stake in society, is giving society a stake in punishment. Half-time entertainment at football matches perhaps?

Scrap prison for all but the most dangerous and disturbed criminals, and those persistent criminals who would benefit from some enforced education and rehabilitation, and bring back the lash for punishment of the thieving little scrotes who make people's lives a misery. If they can be flogged within 3 days of committing the offence, then this might actually even work as a deterrent.

Restitutive justice is probably more just to both victim and perpetrator than the bureaucratic abortion of the way we deal with petty offences now. Where that fails, Flogging: Less barbaric, and considerably cheaper than prison, which leaves prison for the real cunts from whom we need to be protected. Simple.

A Romp Through Afghan History

2009-11-16T08:26:00.003Z

Though I have criticised Richard North in the past, his Romp through Afghan History, and how it affects attitudes today is essential reading.

The Pashtun Tribes
18th & 19th Centuries
Early 20th Century
1930s
Partition

He and I may draw different conclusions, but these posts are spot on.

EU High Representative

2009-11-13T08:12:00.004Z

Now that St. Tony of Albion and Bananaman have been seen their EU top-job ambitions dashed, the UK government is touting Baron Mandelson of Foy in the County of Herefordshire and Hartlepool in the County of Durham, or Lord Fondlebum of Rio to his friends, as the EU's high representative for foreign affairs.

Many instinctive bloggertarians will be horrified that the minister, who, it will be pointed out, had to resign twice in disgrace, is about to get himself a no-doubt well paid position in Brussels just as the Labour ship he helped navigate is crashing catastrophically onto the rocks.

I don't think this is fair; Mandelson's record is one of a loyal Lieutenant calmly suggesting to Captain Blair, and Later Brown, that "perhaps that is not the right way, sir"; the difference is when Brown took over, the power sent him almost completely insane, and nothing Mandelson could do would stop an increasingly delusional captain steering straight for every rock he couldn't see, hurling Nokias at anyone who dared point out the catastrophic policy failures and upcoming cliffs. Brown is determined to destroy the ship, and go down with it. Fondlebum cannot be held entirely responsible for the disaster of the Labour government, as he is one of the only competent individuals in it. He is also, surprisingly for a former communist, an idealogical fellow traveller with those of us on the right. As EU Commissioner, his sterling defence of free trade and against French protectionism won him few friends, but was the right thing to do. He certainly earned my respect.

Mandelson is an extremely astute political operator, and one with the potential to advance the cause of free trade within the EU and world wide. He has deal-making experience from his time as Northern Ireland secretary, and was able to bring those two warring tribes around a table and thrash out a deal on power sharing and the thorny issue of policing. I can think of few people who would do a better job advancing world trade talks, and persuading America and China that tariff wars are not the way forward. The left think he's one of them, but actually he'd be a globalist's Manchurian candidate.

A Very British Dude enthusiastically supports Peter Mandelson for EU High Representative. And it's not entirely because I want the most competent Labour politician out of the way during the upcoming election campaign, though that is a clear ancillary benefit.

Worthless Degrees

2009-11-12T21:22:00.000Z

Having a chat in my office about Mickey Mouse degrees. The ones that a CV with them on gets placed straight in the round filing cabinet on the floor. Unless of course the employer in question requires you to wear a hair net, paper hat and clean the soft drink nozzles.. I’ve come up with the following…

Media Studies
Sociology
American Studies (if you want to be up to your nuts in Cheerleaders, apply to Texas A&M, don’t pretend you give two hoots about American Literature).
Golf Management Studies
Watersports science and development – i.e. Learning to Surf (University of Plymouth)
And a gem I found in a Google search – Equestrian Psychology (Glyndwr University)

One that might be worth a closer look…
Sexual Health Studies - University of Central Lancashire. Cue Jokes about the Practical Exam.

Any other ideas?

Why Libertarians should oppose the DNA database

2009-11-12T09:52:00.003Z

Of course Libertarians should oppose a DNA database on a point of principle, but it is difficult to argue the practical costs to people who use the "if you've nothing to hide" argument. Now personally, I think anyone who uses that argument should be locked up for 42 days, but it is a common view. It is the line taken by the editorials of the two best-selling papers in the UK, for example and one therefore you must engage with.

The ID card fundamentally changes the relationship between the state and the citizen, because it forces you to account for your presence anywhere. The police can ask you for your papers, without having to give a reason. This is even more so for those on the DNA database: if your DNA is at any crime scene (a few cells will suffice) then it is you who must prove your innocence - or an innocent explanation for your DNA's presence.

This will create 2 classes of citizen in the eyes of the legal system. Those who are on the DNA database, who have to prove their innocence, and those who aren't who remain innocent until proven Guilty. But DNA can "prove innocence" they say, to which I point out that DNA evidence is not necessary for a prosecution. As the database grows larger, the likelihood of false positives increases, and its utility diminishes. With CRB checks proliferating, we are in danger of eroding the principle of criminals "paying ones debt to society", when because being convicted of anything increases the cost of insurance, housing, reduces the likelihood of finding work, and being under constant suspicion, actively mitigates against rehabilitation.

Whilst the DNA technology is impressive, do you honestly believe that it is infallible or open to manipulation by zealous law enforcement personel? As ever more reliance is put upon DNA to secure convictions, it will not be long before we discover cases where DNA evidence is deliberately manipulated. Ask anyone who works with DNA how easy that would be.

So it's not just convicted people: Anyone can find themselves on the DNA database. Anyone. Just look at a copper funny, and you're a second-class citizen. The DNA database fundamentally undermines the principle of equality before the law and the presumption of innocence - for everyone, not just those with something to hide.

Letter

2009-11-11T18:06:00.002Z

I have had a bit of time to reflect on Gordon Brown’s letter snafu to Mrs Janes on the death of her son in Afghanistan. I actually sympathised with Brown on this matter at first as I thought that should get kudos for trying to do the right thing. As Dan Hannan says, he did it in private with – unbelievably for Brown – no thought to political advantage. I have to admit however that since it has panned out, and hearing the same old venomous utterances from our benighted leader during Prime Ministers Question Time my position on this has changed.

Lets be truthful, whilst honestly meant, the letter is symptomatic of Labours lack of interest in the Army - except of course when they want a photo op during the Conservative Party Conference. Labour doesn’t give a flying fornication with double back twist and summersault about the Army. According to Zanu Labour anybody in it, from the Regimental Goat up to the Chief of the General Staff is a rabid Tory who are stealing the welfare checks from Homeless Lesbian Dolphins merely by being in Uniform. The Army are the Right Wing enemy of the one party state that ZNL wishes to create and must be destroyed. I can’t think of a single ZanuLabour MP* that has ever served in the Armed Forces, not even a two week familiarisation visit to the Women’s Auxiliary Balloon Corps. Hardly a bloody surprise as the Army doesn’t specifically recruit Workshy Bolsheviks.

If Brown is too blind to write a letter – then he has my sympathy (Didn’t stop him signing the ~~European constitution~~ Treaty of Lisbon though, I assume he just put a big cross on the page). But isn’t he ~~telling~~ endlessly and constantly telling us that he’s up to the job, getting on with the job, which started in America? Either you can’t do a job because of some reason or other, in which case you should politely step aside, or you can and you manage to write a half decent letter as we would expect from the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. I can’t carry a tune in a bucket, which is why I don’t go for the job as chief conductor at the London Philharmonic. I haven’t used the media to get the job standing at the front of the Orchestra waving a small stick, and then got upset when the public quite rightly points out the resultant cacophony sounds like a Skeleton having a wank in a biscuit tin.

Lets not forget James Gordon Brown is a bullying dangleberry with Oak Leaves and Clusters to the people whom have the misfortune to work for him. He used the media to usurp his previous leader to get his position of power, and gets all upset when it bites him on the arse. Was the Sun in poor taste using this Soldiers death to attack Brown – of course, but when this first came out Gordon’s first instinct was to use Mandelson to slime the Sun back. And instead of maintaining a dignified silence Mandy’s at it again.

Brown destroyed our economy because it suited him to favour his client state over the good of the whole country, and he enjoyed it too because it appealed to his petty tribal spite. He’s betrayed his country by sending off men to war without anything approaching the correct equipment or manpower which is why he finds himself writing a letter to Mrs Janes in the first place. He’s betrayed Democracy with his grubby EU Constitution manoeuvring, and he’s betrayed the Office of Prime Minister by not standing aside when he clearly wasn’t up to the job, and attacking those who oppose him with Damian McBride slime. I seem to remember he’s from the party that used the death of David Cameron’s son to claim that it was Labour party funding of the NHS that kept him alive. So to whine about a newspaper using deaths for political means is a bit rich to say the least.

Brown is the Black Knight on the Prime Ministerial Bridge threatening to bleed on people. He’s a dilettante that is incapable of writing a simple letter of thanks for a life laid down for his country. It is no dishonour to try and fail, and everybody makes mistakes, the dishonour is to try and cover up failings. Sympathy for his incompetence ends the minute G Brown stays another nanosecond in a job he is morally and intellectually unable to do. The dishonour of the Sun newspaper is a different matter...

*Does Maj (retd) Eric Joyce MP (Lab, Falkirk), Late of the Pay Corps count?

Not interested in small animals and world peace.

2009-11-09T20:16:00.000Z

Combat Barbie L Cpl Katrina Hodge

There is no foliage attached to this MK6 helmet to break up the outline of the soldier, nor has grasses and other Camouflage been attacket to the epaulettes to soften the shape of the soldier. Practically no effort has been made in at least 3 of the six S's of camouflage and concealment.

The whole of the face should be shaded, including ears to stop light bouncing off the face. In addition the stripes on the face are uniform which is noticeable in a Rural A.O. Unless the soldier is in an urban environment where linear shapes are frequent, the soldier should use a random pattern, and ideally different colours.

The “Black Kit” visible here shows no protection from friction burns, glass fragments or fire. Nor can I see any rappelling attachments. Furthermore the uniform lacks the necessary carrying pouches for all the necessary G60 Grenades and MP5K magazines necessary for CRW warfare. She could probably carry two at an absolute push. On the plus side the uniform is noticeably free of anything that could hinder the wearer carrying out a fast ingress through a mouse hole.

These are basic errors you would not expect a Cadet to make.

The pictures are courtesy of an Italian web site, one of thousands covering the subject. Trust me the Italians are VERY keen on this story of military courage.

Gordon's School report

2009-11-09T15:08:00.003Z

The delectable Terrible Tory Girl has the school report of one James Gordon Brown.

Spot on and very funny, but actually I agree rather more with this thoughtful post from the Longrider.

Britblog Roundup #247

2009-11-09T11:36:00.000Z

... is up over at Redemption Blues.