Europhobia: 03/12/2006

Saturday, March 18, 2006

This on blogging. (Even though the good doctor quotes me to disagree with me and now I'm agreeing with him - but that's part of the joy of such a discursive medium: we get to change our minds daily based on new arguments and information. Hurrah for blogging!)

Friday, March 17, 2006

It's Friday night and it's St Patrick's day, which means one of the most drunken of the year. When better to release an official admission that UK airports were used in "extraordinary rendition" flights SEVENTY-THREE TIMES since 2001, despite umpteen previous ministerial denials?

Update: Oh yes, and Labour has also admitted receiving £14 million in undeclared loans in the run-up to last year's General Election, in case you missed it amidst the frivolities. That one's less likely to be ignored by the press, though - in some ways, that could be seen as part of the attempt to bury the renditions story...

The Guardian in "recognising quality" shocker! Yep, our man McKeating's first piece for Comment is Free has made the editor's pick. Which appearently means he'll get a bit of cash for it. Hurrah!

This, of course, means we must now officially start the chants of "Chicken Yoghurt is a sell out!" and, in a few months' time, start moaning about how "yeah, man, he was, like the shit before he got famous - but now, man, nah... he's lost it", and raving about the next big thing instead... Ho hum, such is life...

Today is St Patrick's Day

Up and down the land people will be forking out the best part of three quid a pop on badly-poured pints of Guinness, doing bad Oirish accents and then falling into gutters (normally while wearing novelty hats). Tomorrow our pavements will be awash with black vomit, our toilet bowls clogged with the particularly viscous after-effects that an evening on the black stuff tends to produce. I doubt the real St Patrick would have approved...

So I tell you what - how about we all drink one pint less tonight, and instead bunk the money to a good cause. Not only will we all be less hungover in the morning, we might do some good.

Following this observation back in January, EDM 1500 is doing rather better, with nearly 70 signatories - including my MP at number 4. But it's still a fairly pathetic turnout by MPs for what is, in most people's books, a bit of a no-brainer - how is it possible NOT to support extra funding to allow people, and particularly terminally-ill children, to die with a bit of dignity?

As such, how about giving the price of a pint to Roisin & Wallace Murray to help them raise money for the Rainbows and Bluebell Wood Children's Hospices?

At the very least, go and give them some support on their fundraising blog as they prepare for their 1000km walk. They're hoping to raise £1million - how about us British bloggers help them get some publicity, eh?

Update: Tell you what, to make it even easier you can bunk donations to my (empty) PayPal account in the far right column, and I'll pass on all money received. I have a track record of being trustworthy on these things.

Update 2: Thanks to one Mr Worstall, the kitty is no longer empty - plus I've realised I had a small amount of advertising revenue in there, which will naturally join the total.

Update 3: Now also up at AgoraVox.

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Missed this: Jerome a Paris had an interesting revelation after attending a meeting with Jacques Barrot, EU Commissioner for Transport:

"the more he spoke spontaneously and on concrete topics, , the less he was on the official line, but without seemmingly noticing the contradiction. That official line is so ingrained in everybody that they don't even notice that they are effectively pushing the opposite of what they seemingly believe in."

Yet more confirmation, as far as I'm concerned, that it's time for the EU to take a step back and work out just what the hell it is that it's trying to do. The old plans of the 1950s are obsolete; so are the plans of the 1980s - but no one has yet had the balls to propose the complete overhaul that it is becoming increasingly apparent is needed.

Busy...

Proper posting will resume as and when I find a spare five minutes, so nothing on Harriet Harman's resignation, Blair's prevarication over calls for new party funding systems, Charles Clarke continuing to be a twat or French students reminding us it is possible to protest to preserve as well as progress.

In the meantime, is it just me who was reminded of the conjoined twin mutant leader in Total Recall by this picture over at the Beeb? Does Milosevic live to fight another day? (Or will he merely end up suffocating as Arnie's ex-boss cuts off the oxygen supply to the lower levels?)

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Don't know how I'd missed this, but should be required reading on the devious Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill. Unity has uncovered the list of Acts of Parliament rejected for exemption from the new powers for ministers to amend as they deem fit with no public scrutiny. It is a list with, shall we say, worrying implications. And yes, that is indeed the famous English understatement...

Ah... Britain... Land of tolerance...

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

The Guardian's new blog type thing, Comment is Free, has launched. Should be worth a gander - although there are a few notable omissions on the contributors page - where are the proper bloggers who have been invited to write for this thing (for free)?

Charles Clarke - I hate you and everything you stand for.

A passport, a "voluntary document"? Bollocks, mate. I'm renewing mine now - that'll last for ten years. In ten years time I'm quite likely to be living abroad and raising a family. I suppose when it's up for renewal I could always get a divorce, leave the wife, kids, dog and job and come back to the UK to start over anew, couldn't I? Or perhaps I could simply take citizenship with a more civilised country where they know how to treat their people with respect - which is becoming an increasingly attractive option.

Well done, Labour - you've overturned a lifetime of traditional, patriotic upbringing (in a family descended from one of the heroes of the British Empire) and made me start to despise my country. Good job.

Monday, March 13, 2006

The boy McKeating on top form once again - this time not only delivering a deeply satisfying sock to the smug mug of the Home Secretary, but also providing a perfect parody of familiar form of something that frequently passes for journalism. (Talent envy rising...)

Silvio Berlusconi would fit nicely into New Labour - insanely rich, doesn't like answering questions, and accuses people of insulting him or having an agenda if they ask things he doesn't like.

That's right, on being told he's "not used to taking journalists' questions", the multi-billionaire Prime Minister and media magnate (who does his best to restrict the access of his opponents to his many TV stations and newspapers in the run-up to the general election by trying to alter the law that insists on equal media coverage) decided to prove the interviewer wrong by, erm... Storming out in a huff.

It's time for Sir Ian Blair to go

Holding back the truth of what happened at Stockwell on 21st July? Fine - could impede investigations.

Restricting the Independent Police Complaints Commission in their enquiries? Not fine - even if they weren't, could give the impression that the Met were trying to cover up forensic evidence at the scene of the shooting. Hardly good for improved trust in the service or community relations.

Spreading false rumours that Jean Charles de Menezes was an illegal immigrant? Not fine - obviously designed to reduce public sympathy levels and gain the "oh, he probably deserved it" responses that were initially gained from the false reports of him "jumping the barriers while wearing an unseasonably warm coat".

Repeatedly making high profile speeches about how we're all going to die? Not fine - the role of the police is to maintain order, not create panic.

Secretly recording private conversations with both the IPCC and Britain's Attourney General? Not fine - ignoring the obviously bad PR that has been generated, reducing the respectability of the service yet further, what the hell was the thinking behind it? Blair couldn't have released the tapes to "back up" his version of events without breaking the law - plus it would imply a serious lack of trust between Blair and people/groups he should be working closely with.

Releasing "de Menezes was a rapist" stories to try and cover up the recording scandal? Absolute idiot - an obvious repeat of the "illegal immigrant" slur to make it look like de Menezes was a nasty piece of work who had it coming, plus even if true, utterly irrelevant and not in the public interest. Unless, that is, the Metropolitan Police have now set up anti-rapist hit squads. (Which some may agree with, but is beside the point...)

Sir Ian Blair is a liability, undermining the public's respect for the police with every ill-considered action and each poorly-conceived speech. The Met's Public Relations department is likewise less than useless - an incredibly stupid oversight in this Blairite age of media manipluation and image control, but doubly bad for an organisation which relies for its effective running on willing and enthusiastic public co-operation. I'd not normally contenance spending public funds on PR gurus, but the Met need it big-style - and any PR person worth their salt would point out that the best possible way to rebuild public trust would be a full, wide-ranging independent inquiry into Sir Ian Blair's role in the de Menezes shooting, who was responsible for the shoot-to-kill order, followed by high-profile, top-level resignations where appropriate.

By the time of the de Menezes shooting, Sir Ian Blair had been the head of the Met Police for long enough not to be able to dodge responsibility. The buck stops with him. And even if you don't agree with my long-held take on the man, if nothing else he needs to go to give the service a fresh start.

Update: The BBC's Have Your Say on this story has a classic, from one Terrence Coleman:

"Yet another non-story for the media to drone on about, trot out their cronies in the civil liberty industry to add more nonsense. Never mind, it fills air time and sells newspapers no doubt. The pity of it is that you are trying to ruin the reputation of a brave and honest copper. Shame on the BBC for giving it air time."

Move along, nothing to see here... The majority so far, however, seem to confirm my belief that Blair (Ian) has lost the public's confidence, and so should go.

Sunday, March 12, 2006

Britblog time!

I am not a geek - official

Have spent this weekend toying with importing my archives to Wordpress as a back-up and possible precursor to a move to a dedicated domain name. Utter waste of time. Can't work it out at all. And Wordpress has altered the way you set up the look of the things, as far as I can tell, so I can't work out how to edit the default templates, and the entire thing looks shite.

Grrrr... I may have to stick with Blogger for the time being after all. I am useless.