Simon Hutt

Tadic and Taoso - Waiting for the Execution?

2011-04-05T10:18:00.000+01:00

Mario Francisco Tadic Astorga (58) and Elot Toaso have been in Bolivian custody for almost two years. In the next few weeks they will be transferred to the government stronghold of Cochabamba to face a preliminary trial.

The chances are... they won't make it.

Taoso and Tadic

Intelligence reports suggests that the Morales regime wants this quietly swept under the carpet as it is clear that the majority of the evidence has been fabricated. To save any embarassment to the Morales dictatorship, Tadic and Taoso are going to be "killed in an escape attempt", an escape attempt that will be clearly fabricated by the Morales regime just as it did in the executions of the other men in Santa Cruz; Magyarosi Arpak (29), a Hungarian, and Irishman Michael Martin Dwyer (24) along with Eduardo Rosa Flores (49), a Bolivian-Hungarian, where the authorities claimed it was a "gun battle".

Tadic and Taoso have made it clear that they have no intention of attempting any escape, and want this information known in case they do end up executed by the corrupt Morales regime.

Further information/history:

http://simonhutt.blogspot.com/2009/04/morales-bolivian-assassin-part1.html

http://simonhutt.blogspot.com/2009/04/morales-bolivian-assassin-part-2.html

http://simonhutt.blogspot.com/2009/04/morales-bolivian-assassin-part-3.html

Wkileaks cables regarding the incident:

http://orianomattei.blogspot.com/2011/01/wikileaks-viewing-cable-09lapaz635.html

http://www.newswhip.ie/national-2/wikileaks-says-irishman-lured-to-death-in-bolivia
Elod Taoso support site:

http://www.toasoelod.com/?lang=en&menu=hirek

Tadic support site:

http://tadicsupportgroup.giving.officelive.com/default.aspx

Arab Revolution; Just the Start?

2011-02-21T09:49:00.002Z

Egyptian soldiers and civilians celebrate freedom

Tunisia started it. High food prices, oppression and a dictator that has had 30 years of control, coupled with the high youth population able to mobilise and spread its message in seconds through social media - and a revolution is born. It looked so easy. And the anger spread, driven by people who no longer feared the man at the top because there were so many at the bottom - the people spoke. Egypt, against the odds, removed Mubarak, in other Arab nations, the authorities offered concession after concession; in Jordan, Syria, Algeria, Yemen, Bahrain and Morocco in fear of popular uprising. Yet still the people are angry; realising a concession doesn't mean the removal of the oppressive dictator that was the cause of the situation in the first place and a concession won't remove American influence. The people want their countries back, out of the hands of US supported dictators who have got rich through the areas natural resources while the poor got poorer.

What next?
Libya is now divided between the Ghaddafi supporting western half of the country and the pro democracy eastern half. There is mass bloodshed and Ghaddafi has been quick to shut down communications and the internet; Al Jazeera TV and the social networks have been a vital means of bypassing the propaganda of state TV. The momentum is increasing though and shows no sign of stopping, after all to stop now would simply mean arrest and execution later. They have no choice but to fight on.

Wisconsin Protest

Going Global?

These Arab popular revolutions have made the people of the world aware of their own voice and power. Activism, again fuelled by social media, has made people wake up. In the UK alone mass demonstrations at tuition fees, student sit-ins and the UK uncut movement are the visible signs of peoples anger towards those in charge. In Wisconsin, USA, cuts to the budget (whilst there are tax breaks for the rich) have made state workers and unions come out onto the streets in protest, and they have the publics backing. It seems even America is waking up.

A New Era?

So the Arab protests have spread to China as well as America. It is no longer just an "Arab" uprising against dictatorship, it has become a global phenomenon. People now know that united, they are stronger than the state. Maybe from now on our politicians will start listening to the people, after all -

the government doesn't rule the people, the people rule the government.

The Ground Zero Mosque Myth

2010-09-02T12:07:00.000+01:00

The American media has created a story from nothing just by using the words "Ground Zero Mosque", protests and demonstrations, anger and hate have all been stirred thanks to the US media. Understandably passions are high, thousands died in the worst terrorist attack in American history. New York and the Twin Towers struck by terrorists - we all remember, well, how could we forget?

A few facts-

The location is not at "Ground Zero" its two blocks away in a former coat factory. Ground Zero cannot be seen from the location. (below)

Its not a Mosque! From the Park51 website -

Park51 will grow into a world-class community center, planned to include the following facilities:

•outstanding recreation spaces and fitness facilities (swimming pool, gym, basketball court)

•a 500-seat auditorium

•a restaurant and culinary school

•cultural amenities including exhibitions

•education programs

•a library, reading room and art studio

•childcare services

•a mosque, intended to be run separately from Park51 but open to and accessible to all members, visitors and our New York community

•a September 11th memorial and quiet contemplation space, open to all

There are also other religious centres closer to Ground Zero itself, yet there is no problem with them.

The subsequent protests have been angry and often hate filled, blaming a religion for the Twin Towers attack, not the16 extremists that did it. Anyone for the Mosque (their term) is anti-American despite the First Amendment of the US Constitution:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances"

It seems ignorance is bliss, and thanks to the American media in misreporting, or omitting, the facts there has been a surge in anti-Islamic feeling. This includes a taxi driver stabbed only last week for being a Muslim, and various protests and vandalism at existing Mosques throughout America.

The Media have been irresponsible and downright dangerous in their reporting, and the ugly side of American society has been exposed.

Protest

2010-06-25T07:08:00.000+01:00

Israel - The Real Rogue State

2010-06-04T07:33:00.000+01:00

On Saturday Israeli commandos stormed the international humanitarian aid convoy heading to Gaza causing the deaths of 9 activists and injuring countless others.

Israel has faced international outrage over the incident as the convoy was in international waters and the use of "excessive force" by the IDF. Israel has said the following:

The convoy was a threat to Israeli security-

No, although Israel say weapons were found, the activists on board deny this. Why would they risk it? And how are electic wheelchairs, crayons and potatos a threat to security.

The IDF acted in self defence-

No, activists stated the IDF opened fire whilst still rapelling down from helicopters. Also one of the dead was shot 4 times in the head, hardly self defence.

Hamas terrorists were on board-

Members of Hamas joined the convoy the previous day to escort the ship into port. No doubt Israeli security has a full passenger list, including the 90 year old jewish holocaust survivor.

Israel sends aid to Gaza, there is no need for this convoy-

Yes, but as a UN report stated only a few weeks ago, it is only a quarter of the needs of Gazan citizens.

Some other questions remain unanswered:

Why so much force?

Tear gas, rubber bullets even tazers could have been used without bloodshed.

Why International waters?

This is against international law, not that Israel bothers about that.

Why was no first aid given to casualties for several hours?

3 people died needlessly of wounds on the ship who could have been saved.

Why take all the memory cards and film from the activists after they were arrested?

Clearly so that Israel can edit what the world can see rather than the truth.

So the Israeli spin machine goes into overdrive amid international condemnation, although condemnation is not nearly enough. Israel has broke international law and if this was Iran then Americas sabres would be rattling and there would be immediate sanctions. But this is Israel. Turkey has taken the lead amongst Arab countries with an agressive stance, and Egypt has finally opened the Rafah crossing "indefinately" although the rest of the Arab world is strangely quiet. America however has refused to condemn the attack, and made sure the UN's statement was diluted to a "we need an inquiry" statement, even Joe Biden the US Vice-President said in an iterview; "what's the problem?"

Untill America wakes up to the fact that its support to Israel is counter-productive and will cause even more young soldiers in Afghanistan, trying to win a hearts and minds campaign, to come home in body-bags, then there is little hope that Israel will be labelled a "rogue state". And the only hope for the people of Gaza are those who join the convoys and protest in the streets.

"Paint - A Boy Soldeir's Journey" Available NOW!

2010-06-01T14:25:00.000+01:00

My autobiography; Paint - A Boy Solidier's Journey, is out now to buy from all major bookstores, amazon.co.uk, panicpressbooks.com and simonhutt.com.

Price: £11.99

ISBN: 978-0-9564831-0-2
Publication Date: 01/06/10
Availability: Out Now
Format: Black &White Paperback
Size: 234x156mm Perfect Bound
Pages: 366
Images: 31 Black & White photos, 4 maps
BIC Code: BTM/BTP
BISAC Code: BIO008000
Category: General

Description

Simon Hutt always wanted to join the Army. In 1989, aged 16, he enlisted into the Royal Artillery and after a years basic training was posted to Germany as a regular soldier. Within months the unit was deployed to the Middle east to take part in the first Gulf War...

...Simon was only 17.

The devastation and destruction left a big impression, and on his return he wondered why the Western World could mobilise its forces to fight for Kuwait, but not the likes of Bosnia or Rwanda.

Determined to make a difference, Simon goes Absent Without Leave and travels to the former Yugoslavia to join the Bosnian Croat Army. Fighting for people instead of oil...

...and finds the scars of war are not only physical.

From the Publisher

Simon Hutt's true account of his life as a young soldier fighting in the first Gulf War and then as a volunteer in Bosnia will grip the reader from start to finish.

Told without the usual bravado of most military autobiographies, it is an honest and graphic account of a young man struggling through the hopes and horrors of war and its aftermath; the battle with post traumatic stress disorder and a disability.

www.simonhutt.com www.panicpressbooks.com www.amazon.co.uk

Letter to The Powers That be..

2010-05-30T10:00:00.000+01:00

To: private.office@fco.gov.uk; AINAGCorrespondence@fco.gov.uk; haguew@parliament.uk

I write this letter to you with a real sense of danger which is prevailing on our British citizens who are in danger of kidnap, and imprisonment by the Israeli Naval forces. No doubt you are well aware of the illegal, 4 year long siege imposed on Gaza and its inhabitants by Israel, but you have chosen to stay quite and let Gaza become a death camp, suffocated of all vital supplies.... See more.

In January of this year, British citizens were among 500 people who took part in a convoy of aid to the stricken region. When the convoy reached Egypt, British Citizen’s were brutally attacked by Egyptian Riot Police. In March '09, British Citizens were attacked in the same town, while on a previous convoy.

On both occasions, you chose to stay quite and never saw fit to talk with Egyptian authorities to ensure assistance, protection and support for the British Citizens.

Yet, you claim to have liberated a whole country from a dictator by sending British armed forces to pay with their lives to protect the lives of another nation. And yet, you fail to protect your own British citizens from attacks and torture at the hands of the Egyptian forces.

Your silence can be seen as supporting a very illegal siege on Gaza, even to the extent of peaceful British humanitarians being harmed.

I turn to you to ask finally for your support and resolve in regards to the “Freedom Flotilla” which is currently positioned in international waters. 750 people from 50 different countries, along with 15,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid are destined for Gaza. On Sunday, May 30th, they will sail towards Gaza through International waters. The journey time will be 24 hours. There is great fear and danger surrounding this peaceful mission, as Israel as have already publicly stated that it has launched "Operation Sky Winds", whereby they willl stop the flotilla by any means.

They have issued threats saying they will use force; kidnap all the passengers; and place them in a make shift prison; they will then process and deport everyone, and will sieze the 15,000 tonne of humanitarian aid on board, and the ships themselves too.

I feel you are dutybound and morally obliged to help the safe passage of the Flotilla with its British Citizens on board. Therefore, in line with the EU’s call for their safe passage, we ask you to engage in dialogue with Israel to ensure that the flotilla and British Citizens are under no threat of force or imprisonment. Can we trust you to do that? This matter is one of great urgency, and I along with hundreds of thousands of British people look forward to an immediate reply to this letter detailing what actions you will be taking to ensure the safety of those British citizens!

I hope that unlike hitherto, you choose to act and act immediately, because our citizens are facing real dangers in the next 24 hours. Your actions need to be taken immediately before any harm can come to them. If you ignore the contents of this letter, you will be failing in your duty to protect the people of this country.

I am confident that you will act promptly and properly to the above concerns, and I'm looking forward to a positive and quick response to protect citizens.

Awaiting your reply,

Simon Hutt

Decision Time Israel

2010-05-27T10:54:00.000+01:00

A flotilla of eight boats carrying thousands of tonnes of construction materials, medical equipment and other aid is sailing to Gaza, setting the scene for a confrontation with Israel which has vowed to prevent the ships breaking the blockade on the Palestinian territory.

Three cargo ships and five passenger vessels have met up in international waters before heading towards Gaza City. The Israeli military is expected to stop the flotilla and divert it to the Israeli port of Ashdod.

One of the organisers of the flotilla, which includes three vessels from Turkey, is IHH, a humanitarian aid group supported by Ankara. An attempt to block the flotilla is likely to increase tensions between the two countries. The Turkish prime minister, Racep Tayyip Erdogan, has called on Israel to avoid this by allowing the boats through.

"This could make relations between Israel and Turkey more complicated," said Yigal Palmor, an Israeli foreign ministry spokesman.

On board the ships are 10,000 tonnes of cargo and about 700-800 activists and politicians from more than 40 countries. The cargo includes building materials, medical supplies and paper for schools. One boat is carrying a complete dental surgery including drills. Crayons and chocolate are also on board for Gazan children.

"We're trying to break the blockade of the Gaza Strip and tell the world that Israel has no right to starve 1.5 million Palestinians, we are bringing in vitally needed supplies so the people of Gaza can rebuild their infrastructure" said Greta Berlin, of the Free Gaza Movement, another organiser of the flotilla.

Israel has imposed an economic blockade on Gaza since the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas seized control almost three years ago. Nearly all exports and imports are banned and only a limited supply of food and medical aid is allowed in. Free Gaza has organised six previous aid boats to the Palestinian territory, the last three of which were blocked from reaching their destination by the Israeli military. This is the biggest attempt to take aid to Gaza. "The previous boats were making a statement ‑ these boats will be making a real impact," said Berlin.

Berlin accused Israel of "sabre-rattling" in the hope that the flotilla plan will be abandoned. "They have no right to control Gaza waters unless they want to admit they are occupying Gaza," she said. "They are the illegal entity, not us." Israel claims it is acting within international law. Earlier this week, a UN report said that three-quarters of the damage caused to Gaza's infrastructure during the three-week military conflict has not been repaired because of the blockade.

Mark Regev, the Israeli prime minister's spokesman, said: "It is strange that human rights activists are acting as apologists for a regime that is brutally repressing human rights. Hamas oppresses women, gays and Christians, has crushed independent media and destroyed all political opposition."

This weekend will see the flotilla attempt to enter Israeli waters and it could be a major turning point. Will Israel risk international condemnation and a diplomatic row with Turkey by using force, or will they let the flotilla in, opening the floodgates for more aid? A row with its neighbours, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon (who have been silent as usual) means nothing to Israel, a row with Turkey, a member of NATO is another matter.

New Politics, New Era.

2010-05-15T09:19:00.000+01:00

As the Liberal Conservative Coalition was formed, the doomsayers and journalist were already sharpening their pencils and awaiting its "inevitable" collapse.

However Cameron and Clegg have clearly stated that this is the birth of a New Politics in the UK. Gone will be the days of confrontational PMQ's, replaced by compromise and debate - all in the national interest rather than for the good of the individula parties. Already ID cards have been scrapped and the warning is given that there will be cuts, something that has been obvious for some time, and hopefully the first to go will be the layer of needless penpushers and beaurocrats that "New Labour" loved so much. Nick Clegg is in charge of electoral reform, hopefully bringing in the Alternative Vote system rather than the unfair first past the post which makes most of our votes pointless, and the Lib Dems "pupil premium" has been taken on board.

There will be downsides of course. Already Foreign Minister William Hague has journeyed across the Atlantic to cosy up the the US, and the Lib Dems plans to scrap Trident has been put on hold. The coalition has been hated by right wing tories and left wing liberals and their supporters.

A statutory 5 year term is what the country, and this coalition need, to get us out of the mess that Labour have got us into. Give them time.

Clegg - Still Kingmaker?

2010-05-11T09:53:00.001+01:00

Almost a week after the General election which produced a hung parliament, the shuttle diplomacy is still going on with both Labour and the Conservative trying to form a coalition with the Liberal Democrats.

Both parties have offered the Lib Dems a referendum on the Alternative Vote system, the recommended voting system put forward by Lord Jenkins after the last inquiry into our electoral system. So all the parties have thing in common and things they can overcome, other things such as defence and the economy are harder to overcome.

Following Gordon Browns resignation, which was a major block to the Lib Dems even talking to Labour, there is a very real chance of a LibLab coalition. Unfortunately this would mean another unelected Prime Minister (probably the slimy David Miliband), running a party that lost 91 seats. A LibLab coalition would still not reach the 326 seats required to have a majority, which would mean bringing in the SNP, Plaid Cymru and other parties from Northern Ireland. Hardly a representative democracy!

Any coalition would only last a year at most, a LibLab coalition would last a few months. The current confusion is only reinforcing the publics belief that all politics is pointless and unrepresentative.

Nick -

do what you have to do, get the Alternative Vote into place, and have another election. Quickly.

Vote Murdoch!

2010-04-28T10:17:00.000+01:00

As well as 39% of BSkyB, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp controls News International, whose titles include the Times, Sunday Times, Sun, News of the World and the London Paper freesheet. In the US, News Corp owns the social networking website MySpace, the New York Post and the Fox entertainment network, which includes the right wing Fox News, 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight Pictures. It also owns the publishing house HarperCollins, and newspapers in Australasia including the Australian.

　On 26 June 2009 Ofcom published a report into the pay-TV market. After long investigation, it concluded that Sky had a monopolistic control: its 80% of Premier League football and 100% of movies from the big Hollywood studios prevent others from entering the market, and Sky sells these rights to others at too high a price. As a competition regulator, Ofcom's job is to keep the market open. Its new ruling requires Sky to sell on its rights to all comers at some 30% less than it currently charges. BT reckoned this will drop the average cost of watching top-flight football by £10 a month.

Sure enough, the next day his newspapers sharpened their knives. The Sun's Fergus Shanahan: "This is the world gone mad. Ofcom, the official telly regulator, says a successful and popular firm – Sky – must be penalised for doing well … This nonsense – rewarding losers by punishing winners – is Ofcom's way of 'improving competition'. Ofcom busybodies also have the nerve to threaten to dictate what prices shareholder-owned firms like Sky can charge. That's despotic, not democratic, and it's what they do in Russia." No, what they do in Russia these days is to grant monopolies to oligarchs and that's why Ofcom and the Office of Fair Trading exist — to prevent it happening here. Just 10 days later, last Monday, David Cameron made a surprise speech about quangos. His team asked the rightwing thinktank Reform to set up the event at just a few days' notice. It looked like the standard speech made by all oppositions promising cuts in "the quango state". But one astonishing new commitment stuck out, even though it was barely noticed in most reports: "Ofcom as we know it will cease to exist. Its remit will be restricted to narrow technical and enforcement roles. It will no longer play a role in making policy." It would be knocked back to "regulating lightly". Had there been a great popular outcry calling for the demolition of Ofcom?

Within hours of Cameron's speech, leading market analysts UBS Investment Research assessed the potential impact: "This bodes well for Sky … We believe that a lighter-touch approach would result in a far better and fairer outcome for Sky, the consumer and the pay market. This could result in a valuation of over 750p versus circa 650p under Ofcom's current proposals." In plain English, if the Conservatives come to power and abolish Ofcom, expect a £1 share price rise for Sky – worth some £1.7bn.

The timing and content of Cameron's speech may, of course, be purely coincidental. Former Murdoch man Andy Coulson may have nothing to do with it. I have no shred of evidence to the contrary. The Tories have every reason to dislike Ofcom chief Ed Richards, a former Blair adviser paid £400,000 a year. But behind the scenes the players in this drama, other companies, analysts and observers were stunned. Few dare speak for publication, fearing the wrath of the incoming Conservatives. Ofcom will not be drawn. The one bold voice was Peter Luff, Conservative chair of the business and enterprise select committee. "Ofcom is a bloody great regulator," he told me. "I believe in free markets and I'm very pro-competition. It needs powerful people."

Cameron's office says there was "no contact with News International" about Ofcom but history should not be ignored. The Murdoch press has a long record of winning pay-back from the political leaders it backs – and it has vigorously swung behind Cameron. In fact, it is so ordinary that too few people bother to keep remarking on the evil influence this man has had on politics for the past 30 years.

In his memoirs, John Major counts his downfall from the day Murdoch gave him the imperial thumbs-down. Blair fawned and obeyed, right from his shocking acquiescence to the Tory 1996 Broadcasting Act, which gave Murdoch total control of the digital future. The night before the crucial Iraq war vote, virtually the entire cabinet attended Sun editor David Yelland's farewell party. All Tory and Labour leaders canoodle with Murdoch with a desperation that demeans them and their office.

Is it any wonder the public don't know what to believe when a media oligarch is telling us what we should believe.

Nick Clegg - Kingmaker

2010-04-21T10:19:00.000+01:00

Following the party leaders debate last thursday Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats have forced themselves into the public consciousness.

The Liberal Democrats so far have been the only Party to be open and honest about what they are going to do and how they are going to do it. un like Labour whose motto "stick with us for real change" clearly has a hollow ring to it after the last 12 years, and the Conservatives "vote for us for real change" would be fine if they actually told us how rather than saying they will have an emergency budget AFTER the election and not telling us whats in it until then.

The Liberal Democrats are starting to tick the boxes for the British public. Some of their policies include-

A Fairer Tax system; the first £10,000 of earnings are untaxed.
Banks will be broken up.
Scrapping targets and beaurocracy in the NHS.
Scrapping Trident (backed by several Army Generals only today).
Raising the basic pay of the military.
A "Freedom Bill" to restore civil liberties.
Making the voting system fairer.

What have the Conservatives and Labour offered? Nothing that the public want or care about. Our system is broken, and the public think all politicians are corrupt. The only way out of "more of the same" which, despite Brown and Camerons promises of change, will happen if the Conservatives or Labour have a majority. We do need change, radical change. The Liberal Democrats have done their maths, have said how they will cut the debt, how they can save money without cutting services and have a vision for Britain on the international stage in the future. None of the other parties have done this.

We will see how Clegg does this Thursday in the next leaders debate, we will also see if Brown and Cameron actually have anything to say.

Taken for Fools again?

2010-04-12T09:50:00.004+01:00

As the UK's political campaigns get underway for probably the most important Elections in a generation, what exactly have we heard so far?

Half of the electorate want "change" and yet 43% are still undecided. Cameron, Brown and Clegg are, so far, just blowing hot air - no real policies for "change" and no concrete policies for the economy. The thing is, the public are no longer going to believe anything they say. After a year of expenses scandals, exposing the greed and lies of our politicians, and several years of a PM who wasn't even elected to run the country, and an economic crisis brought on by labours "spend now, worry later" policy of the boom years. Nobody believes the people we elect to represent us.

We all know that to reduce the debt (£1 TRILLION) the only option is to reduce spending and cut services, it's not rocket science. The Labour government has squandered Billions on pointless quangos and overpaid and underworked beaurocrats, introducing league tables and targets for the NHS, police and social services which only creates a money black hole and a job for those overpaid beaurocrats.

Take for instance the response to todays launch of Labours manifesto -

David Miliband told the BBC:

"We are running on this manifesto and we intend to keep it,
which is about... how we need to make markets work in the public interest,
including financial markets and how we need to reform government as well in
order to make our country fairer."
David Cameron said:

"I think there's a contrast in this campaign, frankly. No new ideas from
Labour, a very negative campaign, all about attack and trying to scare
people - and very positive, agenda-setting ideas from the Conservatives."

Nick Clegg said Labour had promised "fairness and new politics" for years:

"They are doing it again. If they haven't managed to do it in 13 years, why
would anyone believe they are going to do it this time?"

Mr Clegg said its pledge to raise the income tax threshold to £10,000 would be the "key" policy and would put £700 back into the pockets of most people.

So no real news, no ground shaking promises for change, just empty promises.

Unless politicians start telling the truth, however painful, this election may be a non-starter. Those 435 undecided may not even bother, and who could blame them. Everyone wants change, but change into what.

"Sorry" Seems to be the Hardest Word

2010-03-31T10:46:00.004+01:00

"The National Assembly of Serbia harshly condemns the crime committed against the Bosniak residents of Srebrenica in July 1995 ... expressing condolences and
apology to the victims' families because not all was done to prevent this tragedy."

So a declaration by the Serb parliament says. Last night the declaration was approved by only two votes, showing the divisions that still remain in Serbia.

Nationalist MPs rejected the Srebrenica declaration as "shameful" and "unjust". They insisted fewer people were killed in Srebrenica and denied Western accusations of mass executions."Serbia will sign its own guilt with this declaration," said Slobodan Samardzic, a nationalist deputy. Velimir Ilic, another opposition MP, asked: "Why do you want to put a mark on the future generations that they will never wash away?"

In Sarajevo, Bosniak victims also said they were unhappy with the declaration because it failed to call the killings genocide, in accordance with rulings by international courts.

The declaration also says Serbia must arrest ex-Bosnian Serb army commander Ratko Mladic who was charged with genocide by a UN court for orchestrating the Srebrenica massacre. It calls for the arrest of Mladic and urges authorities to do all they can to find him even as some nationalist deputies called him a "Serbian hero" during the debate. The pro-western ruling party had to admit guilt to assist in its attempt to enter the EU, following the UN's declaration that it was also at fault for the massacre. This follows 15 years of Serbian denial that the atrocity even took place.

So the Serbs only grudgingly apologised for the "crime" (not for genocide) due to international pressure, and yet there are still too many of those who consider the men who were responsible for this "Heros".

Dollarocracy - Who Runs America?

2010-03-21T12:29:00.005Z

President Obama has finally scraped his controversial healthcare bill through the US House of Representatives, the bill was passed by 219 votes to 212, with no Republican backing, after hours of fierce argument and debate. Why so much support for anti-healthcare reform? We in the UK don't understand the need for paying for what is a human right. Under the legislation, health insurance will be extended to nearly all Americans, new taxes will be imposed on the wealthy, and restrictive insurance practices such as refusing to cover people with pre-existing medical conditions will be outlawed.

Cost: $940bn over 10 years; would reduce deficit by $143bn

Coverage: Expanded to 32m currently uninsured Americans

Medicare: Prescription drug coverage gap closed; affected over-65s receive rebate and discount on brand name drugs

Medicaid: Expanded to include families under 65 with gross income of up to 133% of federal poverty level and childless adults

Insurance reforms: Insurers can no longer deny coverage to those with pre-existing conditions

Insurance exchanges: Uninsured and self-employed able to purchase insurance through state-based exchanges

Subsidies: Low-income individuals and families wanting to purchase own health insurance eligible for subsidies

Individual Mandate: Those not covered by Medicaid or Medicare must be insured or face fine

High-cost insurance: Employers offering workers pricier plans subject to tax on excess premium

So far so sensible, for an explanation we could look at another example, US foreign policy in the Middle East. The US has long been a supporter if Israel, despite their behaviour. The reason for this is the powerful Israeli lobby in the US. Among the best-known critical works about the lobby group AIPAC (American Israeli Public Affairs Committee) is "The Israel Lobby and Foreign Policy", by professor John Mearsheimer and professor Stephen Walt. In the working paper and resulting book they accuse AIPAC of being "the most powerful and best known" component of a larger pro-Israel lobbythat distorts American foreign policy. They write:

"AIPAC's success is due to its ability to reward legislators and congressional candidates who support its agenda, and to punish those who challenge it. ... AIPAC makes sure that its friends get strong financial support from the myriad pro-Israel PACs. Those seen as hostile to Israel, on the other hand, can be sure that AIPAC will direct campaign contributions to their political opponents. ... The bottom line is that AIPAC, which is a de facto agent for a foreign government, has a stranglehold on the U.S. Congress. Open debate about U.S. policy towards Israel does not occur there,even though that policy has important consequences for the entire world."
In other words, the US foreign policy is dictated by the powerful Israeli lobby. Could it be that those against healthcare reform are not representing their constituents, but in fact the Healthcare Insurance Companies themselves? Bearing in mind it costs millions to run for office in the US, where do the prospective senators get their donations from - anyone who wants an opinion in congress.
It seems the Dollar buys you a voice in America, not a vote.

Ethnic Cleansing - Israeli Style

2010-03-10T14:24:00.005Z

This week Irasel announced the approval for 1600 homes to be built on Palestinian land in occupied east jerusalem, this comes on top of the announcement earlier in the week the construction of 112 new apartments in the West Bank settlement of Beitar Illit.

This could have been embarrassing as these announcements coincided with the visit of the US Vice-President Joe Biden. Biden actually condemned the settlement saying -

"I condemn the decision by the government of Israel to advance planning for new
housing units,"

after which Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general echoed Biden's censure of Israel's plans to build the additional settlements. In a statement he said that he -

"reiterates that settlements are illegal under international law".

Bearing in mind that these statements that Israel is acting against international law and violating human rights have been going on for years, and Israel continues to ignore them, even though the "settlement freeze" was a condition of peace talks. Lots of quiet condemnation from the West but no real action again, which is no great surprise. Is it any wonder that the majority of Muslims consider the US as the "enemy" - quick to stick their noses into Iraq and Afghanistan but nothing against Israel who have committed war crimes during the recent invasion of Gaza, as well as what would be described in other countries as "ethnic cleansing" in demolishing Palestinian homes to make way for Israeli settlements. Any other country would be considered a "rogue state" by the US. But the Israeli lobby in the US is a strong one.

Joe Biden had earlier on Tuesday emphasised the close relationship between the US and Israel after meeting Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, in Jerusalem. He also gave Netanyahu assurances of Washington's commitment to Israel's security, particularly with regard to Iran's nuclear programme, saying -

"There is no space between the United States and Israel when it comes to
Israel's security... and for that reason, and many others, addressing Iran's
nuclear programme has been one of our administration's priorities."

Netanyahu in turn praised Barack Obama, the US president, for demonstrating his commitment to "unbreakable" ties between the two countries.

So a mutual "love in" between Israel and the US will ensure that Palestinian homes will continue to be destroyed for the sake of Israeli expansion, despite the "condemnation", and the gulf between the Islamic world and the West gets ever deeper.

Karadzic on Trial, and on Form

2010-03-02T10:13:00.007Z

Karadzic - in his element

At last Radovan Karadzic is on trial at The Hague for War Crimes, which include:

Eleven counts of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and other atrocities

Charged over shelling of Sarajevo during the city's siege, in which some 12,000 civilians died
Allegedly organised the massacre of up to 8,000 Bosniak men and youths in Srebrenica

Targeted Bosniak and Croat political leaders, intellectuals and professionals

Unlawfully deported and transferred civilians because of national or religious identity
Destroyed homes, businesses and other sacred sites.

Already the man has made the courtroom his stage, after countless delays and legal arguments (including not recognising the court itself), Karadzic is now in his element. Describing the war as "just and holy" for the Serbs, and that his role was a necessary patriotic duty to defend Bosnian Serbs from Muslim agression. He also went on to say that various crimes were "faked" by the west or the muslim government and that he can prove it. Speaking over footage of the 1994 Markale market massacre in Sarajevo, Kradzic said;

"Here is the fake pathetic leg allegedly taken off by the Serbian grenade. Look at the tables, there is nothing on the table. If there is nothing on the table why did 300 to 400 people gather there? These are the corpses of dead Muslim fighters, they put them on the market and this corpse is completely stiff and God knows how old it is and it's of course a fighter."

Karadzic if he survives, unlike Milosevic, will undoubtedly be found guilty and spend the rest of his life (hopefully) in a nice easy dutch jail. The West, whose inaction in the early 1990's helped the Serbs in their quest for a "Greater Serbia", and their inneffectiveness on the ground when they finally arrived (Dutch UN troops watched as Bosnian Serb soldiers took Muslim men away for execution in the supposedly "safe area" of Srebrenica), will be glad to wash their hands of the whole embarrassing, messy affair. In the meantime, this failed poet, writer and Doctor will remind the world that he was a very good and patriotic Serb, and an expert at (and he invented the term) "ethnic cleansing".

Muslim men being marched to their death in Srebrenica

Copenhagen Cop-Out

2010-02-19T14:48:00.014Z

The targets from January's Copenhagen climate change conference have been and gone, and largely ignored. The UN's climate change representative has just resigned. So why all the talk and yet nothing has been done? One strong point is that no one is even sure if the planet is actually warming dangerously. The scientists can't agree, and has been shown recently thanks to several leaked emails, they are even "bending" the truth to make the situation appear worse than it actually is.

The UK government has tried to instill an eco policy despite the recession, possibly using it as an excuse to raise money from taxes on fuel and cars, however for all the talk of expensive wind turbines and the use of expensive public transport, would it really make a difference? One estimate reveals that the worlds 1.3 billion cows produce nearly 100 million tons of methane each year, almost a third of all methane pollution. So one useful idea would be to get rid of all the worlds cows, become vegetarians, and thereby cutting methane pollution- obvious right? Hmmmm.

Brazil however is a good example of how to cut pollution by using bioethanol. Bioethanol has a number of advantages over conventional fuels. It comes from a renewable resource i.e. crops, usually in the form of sugar cane and not from a finite resource and the crops it derives from grow well around the equator. Another benefit over fossil fuels is the greenhouse gas emissions. The road transport network accounts for 22% of all greenhouse gas emissions and through the use of bioethanol, some of these emissions will be reduced as the fuel crops absorb the CO2 they emit through growing. avoiding heavy reliance on oil producing nations. And as the crops grow well in areas such as South America and Central Africa, this would enable the poorer countries in those areas to benefit.

One criticism is that Brazilians should worry about the lack of food in Africa instead. This is a very important issue, of course, but its relationship with bioenergy probably will have more benefits than damage. The food problem in Africa is very complex and has connections with politics, economy and agricultural technology, to name but a few. Looking at it from the viewpoint of bioenergy versus food, there is simply not enough of a bioenergy market in the planet, at least up to 2015-2020, that could support the production of bioenergy crops in Africa so that it could influence food production there. Even if it does, and profits are high, Africans could benefit a lot from that and then invest their profit to improve their food technology, therefore increasing food production and quality.

In the case of Brazil, the current production of bioethanol does not compromise food production at all, and are using less than 1% of the agriculturally usable land area in the whole country.

So why no mass production of bioethanol? Or for that matter a worldwide investment in electrically powered vehicles? OIL! without worldwide demand for oil, the economies of countries that produce it would collapse - in other words the USA and most of the Middle East. The already volatile Middle East would be in turmoil, and the USA, the largest consumer of fuel would be considerably worse off. So until the oil runs out, don't bother worrying about your Carbon Footprint.

$30 Billion for What?

2010-02-09T13:54:00.006Z

The Aims of the United Nations:

To keep peace throughout the world.

To develop friendly relations between nations.

To work together to help people live better lives, to eliminate poverty, disease and illiteracy in the world, to stop environmental destruction and to encourage respect for each other's rights and freedoms.

To be a centre for helping nations achieve these aims.

In a recent report on the inquiry into warcrimes following the Israeli "Operation Cast Lead" U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he could not determine whether the Israelis or Palestinians had conducted credible investigations into allegations of war crimes during last year's Gaza conflict, as required under a U.N. resolution. In the report released Thursday night to the 192-nation General Assembly, Ban said "no determination can be made on the implementation of the resolution by the parties concerned." A U.N. panel, overseen by a respected South African jurist, Richard Goldstone, found evidence in September that both Israel and Palestinian militants may have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity during the fighting, in which 13 Israelis and almost 1,400 Palestinians were killed, including many civilians.

In November, the General Assembly endorsed the Goldstone report, which accused Israel of using disproportionate force and deliberately targeting civilians. It also accused the militant Islamic Hamas group of firing rockets indiscriminately toward communities in southern Israel.

The assembly urged Israel and the Palestinians to investigate alleged war crimes in Gaza or face the possibility of Security Council action if they didn't, under an Arab-drafted resolution. However, the thought of "Security Council action" won't give anyone any sleepless nights. Any action by the Security Council is unlikely because the U.S. — an ally of Israel — holds veto power as one of the five permanent members of the 15-nation body. And why would the UN's largest contributor want to do something not in its own interest.

The United Nations and all its agencies and funds spend about $30 billion each year, or about $4 for each of the world's inhabitants.

What has the world gained from this $30 billion? $8 Billion goes on peacekeeping- which is fine, but if the UN was proactive rather than reactive they could stop conflicts before they start rather than mop up the mess when it is too late, such as the former Yugolsavia. And as for the rest of the money? Lots of speeches and resolutions that are meaningless unless everyone agrees, a humanitarian aid system that doesn't work - as can be seen recently in Haiti where UN dithering was saved by American action.

It's clear that the UN is failing in its above principles; it cannot make important decisions as in many cases it is against member states interests (there are no tougher sanctions on Iran and Sudan as they are a major importer of Chinese goods), and can't even solve, or prevent conflicts.

There are still dictators, poverty, inequality, disease and wars - the UN could have changed that, but until its members look at the bigger picture, it's $30 Billion wasted.

No Regrets...

2010-02-01T10:31:00.004Z

So says Tony Blair in the headline act of the latest Iraq Inquiry. Following two previous inquiries trying to get to the bottom of the reasons and justifications of this war, Tony Blair summed it up quite well by saying "I would do it again if I had to."

Of course there was poor intelligence to prove weapons of mass destruction, and sure, it wasn't authorised by the United Nations. However what Blair did was to get rid of a repressive dictator who was a major threat to stability in the region and the safety of the world. Is the world a better place now he has gone? Yes.

The inquiry has served to show how inneffectual the UN is, there was no second resolution which would threaten military action unless Iraq complied with the original (1441) resolution, to enable weapons inspectors do their job and the continuation of the no-fly zone. This was because most of the major players in the UN (including France and Germany) refused to endorse military action; therefore letting Saddam "get away with it"- so what exactly the point of the UN if not to make the world a better place?

There are also those who say that people have needlessly died in the invasion, the fact is that in wars people die- there is no easy way around that fact. But bear in mind how many people Saddam sacrificed in the Iran/Iraq War and the invasion of Kuwait, then look at the amount of Shi'a muslims and Kurds he has murdered in his own country- it hardly balances out, and if he were still in power he would no doubt continue to murder.

Tony Blair took a stand, and although mistakes were made, getting rid of an evil dictator can never be one of them.

Back to Normal..

2010-01-28T10:21:00.000Z

Apologies for the lack of bloggage, normal service will resume this weekend.

Al Jazeera English - Focus - Settlers 'stone' school children

2009-11-17T05:57:00.000Z

Al Jazeera English - Focus - Settlers 'stone' school children

Al Jazeera English - Middle East - Settler defends West Bank murders

2009-11-17T05:56:00.000Z

Al Jazeera English - Middle East - Settler defends West Bank murders

Nick Griffin- Funny if it Wasn't so Serious...

2009-10-31T08:55:00.001Z

Karadic On Trial at Last....

2009-10-31T08:54:00.002Z

New Evidence In Bolivian Murders

2009-10-09T10:34:00.001+01:00

These photos are taken in 2007. The Bolivian police do not dispute the photos are real, only claim the man in them many have been working under cover:

Link to Bolivian paper that published photos: (HERE)

The man on the left in the white shirt is Captain Walter Andrade.

Captain Walter Andrade: Before Flores was killed, Captain Walter Andrade was facing charges of adbucting a journalist and shooting at other journalists who were probing a corruption scandal at a media company. Captain Walter Andrade was also the man who led the operation that killed Eduardo and two others, including Irishman Micheal Dwyer. A coincidence?

Link to Bolivian paper that broke this story: (HERE)

So the only evidence of a plot to kill President Evo Morales comes from a video that is supposed to show Flores, Mario Tadic, Dwyer and one other plotting to blow up the President of Bolivia...

But look at the video: (HERE)

...Eduardo is dressed in exactly the same clothes that he was in 2007. Same shorts (with the No. 2 logo), t shirt and sunglasses. So the video is most likely taken in 2007 as well.

So we could assume:

More than likely the video was taken by none other than Captain Walter Andrade on the same day in 2007 as the photos.

Also that Captain Walter Andrade is also the person who submitted it to La Paz as proof of a plot, to save himself from going to prison and at the same time make himself a hero for saving the life of the President.

Only now does it emerge that Captain Walter Andrade led the operation in which Flores was killed and Tadic and Taoso arrested. But why has Captain Walter Andrade has been fired from his job, after saving the presidents life? He is apparently facing charges related to drink driving after he had an "accident".

Simon Hutt's "Self-Fulfilling Bullshit" Theory

2009-10-04T15:11:00.004+01:00

The Institute of Child Health studied more than 12,500 single born five-year-olds and found those with working mothers ate more snacks and watched more TV, regardless of the mother’s education or salary. While the proportion of working fathers has remained steady for decades, the number of working mothers has risen greatly - about 60% of mothers with children aged up to five are estimated to be in work.

Very interesting at first glance, however in looking closer at the study it stated that -

"this study did not take into account whether the father stayed at home."

In other words it is assuming that all families where the mother/wife goes out to work have unhealthy kids. Obviously the study is taking a pop at single mothers who make an effort to go out to work but at the same time does not take into account the fact that many fathers stay at home to look after the children- or does that mean that they are all just shit Dads? Well, at least 60% of them!

The worst thing is that this flawed study will be used "in evidence" that single working Mums are bad, the BBC's "Have Your Say" page had 1000 comments on this study with the majority of comments being of the single-parents-are-bad variety. Which is rather depressing in itself, not just because the study, because it didn't take into account fathers who stay at home or for that matter single Dads who go out to work, is obviously pointless and flawed, but also because nobody thought to question the "facts".

Self-Fulfilling Bullshit! As nobody has questioned this study it is taken as the truth, therefore anyone who wants to can point to this crap and state that it is proof that single working mums are bad. A bit like the statement that we will swallow four spiders a year while asleep! Although there is no study into this people take it as the truth because they have heard it so often. (It's a myth- I checked)

"Tell a lie often enough and it becomes the truth" -Lenin

Time for Change?

2009-09-29T09:56:00.004+01:00

Having followed the UK political scene in detail for several months, the following is aparrent:

Labour is doomed. Gordon "Unelected" Brown has failed as a leader and as the Chancellor in his previous incarnation under Tony Blair. Our current economic woes- rising national debt, budget black holes are down to him, not just the "Global Credit Crunch".

People will vote for the Conservatives, not because of their outstanding policies (there are none), but because its not Labour. (see above!)

So thats it then, the current government is useless so we'll get the other lot in who might be less useless. And four or eight years down the line we'll realise that the differences between Labour and Conservative are indistinguishable.. To get into power the Labour party had to reinvent itself in the first place as a more "centrist" party- in other words- just like the Conservatives. The Conservatives, during the last 12 years have also has to try and reinvent itself as a more "centrist" party. In other words, since 1996, (assuming the Conservatives win the next election) we will have had two political parties in power who are absolutely no different from each other.

Shouldn't we demand better? Especially having had to put up with career politicians, expenses fraud and the general greed of those meant to represent our views in the last year. There needs to be a major shift in politics, the system itself has to change and MP's attitudes have to change, otherwise we will have another eight years of the same.

Liberal Democrats anyone?

Reason Why...

2009-09-26T07:17:00.000+01:00

Words...

2009-09-16T14:29:00.003+01:00

Mugabe: A 21st Century Dictator

2009-09-15T14:11:00.006+01:00

Robert Mugabe; one of the last "old school" african dictators continues to hang on to power despite his shaky unity government alongside the Movement for Democratic Change representative Morgan Tsvangarai.During the last 100 days of the so-called power sharing, many things have improved; people are now being paid although less than before due to the "dollarisation" of the currency, riot police are hardly seen on the streets and people in general feel "safer".

Scratch the surface though and the effects of Mugabe can still be felt: Hospitals are open but there is no medication, schools are not functioning properly and many state workers (including teachers) don't see the point of working for $100 a month. The Military is still in charge, including running illegal diamond mines, the profits of which are being siphoned out of the country the proceeds of which are estimated to be worth $200 Million a month to Zimbabwes economy. The government is "power-sharing" in all but name. Top cabinet positions have still not been decided and there is still no-one in charge of the central bank, also Mugabe has not allowed the MDC vice-president Roy Bennett (pictured right) into cabinet. This is the same Roy Bennett who was recently imprisoned for several months without charge, one of many political prisoners still in Zimbabwes jails. The forced occupation of white owned farms still continues, turning once fertile land into barren wastes so Mugabe can give them as presents to his cronies.

The other countries in the region look on, tolerant of Mugabe and unable or unwilling to put pressure on him to step down, also resentful of western (white/colonial) interference in an "African" situation. The sanctions continue and the poor of Zimbabwe continue to struggle, Morgan Tsvangarai in the government only legitimises Mugabes power without being able to change anything. The IMF has recently agreed to a $400 Million gift to Zimbabwe to rebuild its battered economy on the condition, not that Mugabe goes, but that the country pays some of its debts.

A pensioners now worthless life savings.
How much of the $400 Million finds its way to the poor and unemployed of Zimbabwe and how much will be spent on bullett-proof Mercedes limousines for Robert Mugabe remains to be seen..

War on Terror? Well, For Some Anyway.

2009-09-06T12:50:00.004+01:00

Following the release of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi the government has come under fire for backroom "deals" and generally-as usual- making a right mess.

MacAskill (Who?)

The decision to release Ali al-Megrahi on "compassionate" grounds ( he has terminal prostate cancer) was apparently made by MSP and Scottish Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill who said-

"it is my decision and mine alone.."

Firstly- what the hell is this no-mark "MSP" doing allowing a terrorist who killed over 270 innocent people to go free, shouldn't that be a decision for the Prime Minister? I do believe we are still the "United" Kingdom.

Secondly- if there was so much outrage about the Train Robber Ronnie Biggs being released on compassionate grounds (also with terminal cancer), and he was initially turned down a compassionate release as he had not said "sorry", why can a man who murdered 270 people and who still maintains his innocence be allowed out?

I have no doubt that the government, or at least the Scottish Government, has made a deal with Libya regarding trade and oil. This is the same Libya who armed the IRA with weaponry and explosives for twenty years.

A great message to the British soldiers in Afghanistan who are supposedly waging a war on terror, maybe if the Taleban and Al-Qaeda had some oil we wouldn't be trying to wipe them out- we would be making some kind of trade deal with them.

Normal Service Will Resume Shortly...

2009-08-26T07:19:00.001+01:00

Sorry about the lack of "Bloggage" recently, this is dur to the tribe being off school and I haven't had a minute. I also have an operation on my back in a few weeks (God bless the NHS) so things should be back to normal shortly.

Cheers.

Modern World, Outdated Weapon

2009-07-20T07:30:00.002+01:00

Whilst the debate over the lack of body armour and helicopters for our forces in Afghanistan continues, the Government is still quietly pushing ahead with its programme of upgrading our nuclear weapons systems - dubbed "son of trident". The maintenance of these warheads costs £1.5 to £2 Billion every year, the new son of Trident will cost around £20 Billion, plus the cost of upgrading the Nuclear Submarines stationed on the Clyde. Some estimates put the total cost over its thirty year lifespan as high as £100 Billion. Assuming it is on-budget and on-time, unlike the Eurofighter or the Astute class submarines to name but two.

How do we justify this? The cold war is over and it is surely no longer a deterrent. And a deterrent to what; somebody hijacking a jumbo jet and flying it into a skyscaper? And who would be be willing to "press the red button" anyway knowing full well the global repercussions of such an act?

Trident is simply an expensive status symbol, a white elephant that will never be used. The modern enemy is not the might of the Soviet Union, it is the extremist, the terrorist or the "rogue" state such as North Korea. These cannot be destroyed with a nuke, nor will it deter Al-Qaeda from comitting atrocities. For these enemies we need soldiers, men on the ground who can move rapidly and with force, backed up by the wests intelligence network and superior technology.

The £20 Billion for the son of Trident could pay nurses an extra £1000 every year for the next 20 years, and put £1000 into every classroom in Britain for the same period. And it would pay for a lot of helicopters (Chinook are £50 Million each) and body armour (£200 each).

Lions Led By Donkeys

2009-07-18T06:45:00.005+01:00

The recent upsurge in British casualties in Afghanistan has reopened the debate about the troops on the ground and their equipment. Operation Panthers Claw was designed to "push" the Taleban out of Helmand province, and whilst the Americans had an extra couple of thousand men on the ground, the British had 140!

Planners of Operation Panthers Claw had requested an extra 2000 men to assist in the "surge", this however was turned down. I suspect for political reasons rather than tactical, yes it may have been unpopular amongst some but if it got the job done then surely we would be out of there sooner. The demand for extra helicopters has also been met with government silence, yet helicopters can't drive over landmines - it seems the Government puts costs above soldiers lives.

The current government, as it is so weak and ineffectual, are putting men's lives in danger because they can't make tough decisions; we should be a "world shaper" and pulling out or doing nothing would mean the Taleban would still exist, spreading their twisted version of Islam. If we had an Exit Strategy - that is what do we need to do to fulfill our mission, then we would have more helicopters and troops on the ground to get the job done, and or course the mission would be complete (as in Iraq) and the soldiers could return home.

Almost 200 soldiers have died in Afghanistan doing a job they were proud of and a mission they believed in: if only Gordon Brown felt the same way...

Response From Mike O'Brien MP

2009-07-08T08:23:00.003+01:00

Dear Mr Hutt Thank you for your email.

Whilst I understand you are annoyed at the expenses scandal and in some respects I share your concern, perhaps I could just say a little about my Second Home Allowance. It has been in the bottom 5% of M.Ps entitled to claim the Second Home Allowance. Most claimed over £20,000. Theoretically if you divided £8,963 among the number of days I am obliged to be in London, I guess 180, it works out around £50 a night. Staying in an average central London hotel costs more than that.

Even on a non party basis:

In 2007/8 mine was £8,963.
Gordon Brown claimed £17,073,
David Cameron claimed £19,626
and Nick Clegg £23,083.

In 2006/07 mine was £10,958.
Brown claimed £17,017,
Cameron £20,563
and Clegg £22,083.

In 2005/6 mine was £9,580
Brown claimed £18,681,
Cameron £21,359
and Clegg £21,610.

In 2004/5 mine was £9,723
Brown claimed £20,285
and Cameron £20,902 (Clegg was not in Parliament).

Before this scandal broke I had refused both a Ministerial and an MP’s pay rise this year because a lot of my constituents have had no rise. I only mention it in passing to make the point that we are not all in it for the money. I know some people think MPs should not have second homes and object to anything claimed, but MPs need to live in London and many like me also have a home in their constituency and it is expensive running two homes. Unless we only want rich people to be MPs a way must be found to deal with this. Putting MPs in some sort of special hotel with all the security issues that would present is impractical. There is no easy solution to deal with this which is why everyone is waiting for Sir Christopher Kelly`s Report.

Turning to some of the detail of my Allowances for last year. I run an office in the constituency at a cost of £24,234. It is open 9 a.m. to 5p.m. weekdays in King Street Bedworth and I claim the rent, business rates, telephone and running costs on it. In the constituency I employ three staff to deal with constituency queries. There is one full time and one part time case worker and a full time researcher and diary manager. I also employ a part-time secretary in the Commons. Their total salary bill was £87,454. None of my members of staff are family members. My office paper and stationery bill was £505. My postage bill, mainly for constituents' letters. was £2,031 and my office IT bill was £1,255. My communications allowance for printing and distribution of reports to constituents was £10,063.

On second homes you referred to a television. I bought a television in 2006 from an internet site and repaid the cost in full in April 2008 because I wanted to transfer the television to my other home. So the television cost the taxpayer nothing in the end. You referred to work done to my house. I did not have a duck house or a moat. Repair and maintenance is specifically allowed as part of the second homes allowance. The garage flat roof was leaking and the wooden front door frame was rotting so I needed to replace them. Replacing was cheaper than patching in the long term. The “decorations” were nothing to do with Christmas as you implied but for a bedroom repair where the wallpaper ripped and also paint for the radiator. The carbon monoxide detector was recommended. I think it is a reasonable thing to buy.

Although I have not gone through everything you list, I am sure you appreciate that running two homes does pose additional costs for an MP. I am also sorry if I have disappointed you as your MP.

Yours ever Mike O’Brien

Poverty...

2009-07-01T11:14:00.002+01:00

My MP's Expenses

2009-06-22T11:20:00.008+01:00

My MP; Mike O'Brien, MP for North Warwickshire and Bedworth. This includes large former mining communities.

The following information was taken from the published Additional Claims Allowance forms...

Jul 04-

£30 garden,

£102 for a strimmer, frames, extension lead and radio.

Sep 04-

£25 decorations. (Merry Christmas)

Dec 04-

£2400, flat roof and front door replacement, although it says
on the invoice "flat roof conversion into pitched roof" not
replacement.

Jan 05-

£16 extra keys.

Aug 05-

£14 lawnmower blade.

Oct 05-

£60 small household items; glassware, radio.

£80 hedgecutter,

£15 paint & brushes,

£12 keys.

Jan 06-

£148 materials for side gate.

Feb 06-

£350 gardening.

Mar 06-

£1012 furnishings (including 5 piece pan set £140, cotton blanket £40),

£1313 bed, mattress and rug.

Apr 06-

£78 rug

Oct 06-

£825 TV (the type and make is blanked out),

£4 ironing board cover,

£41 bedding,

£9 doorbell.

Nov 06-

£820 external repairs, guttering, facias, drainpipes, painting garage doors

Jan 07 -

£11 "underclaimed" in Dec.

Feb 07 -

£25 clock.

Apr 07-

£160 repair to central heating.

Mar 07-

£295 desk,

£49 light,

£210 chair.

Sep 07-

£10 rack for drying.

Dec 07-

£35 kitchen equipment,

£40 microwave,

£17 carbon monoxide detector,

£15 lamp.

Mar 08-

£29 dvd player

Oh, and £700 for an accountant to do his tax return.

All addresses have been blanked out, I understand Mr O'Briens address being blanked out for security reasons but why the stores where he bought the items from? And why is the make of TV blanked out? Could this be because the items aren't bought from the likes of Argos? A 5 piece pan set costing £140!! The £825 TV? The £1300 bed? The desk and chair worth over £500? The hedgecutters, strimmers and other gardening equipment when it states on his claims forms that he pays for gardening? the £2400 flat roof "repair" which says on the invoice "conversion"?

I'm sure there is a reasonable explanation, and Mr O'Brien wasn't "outed" by the Daily Telegraph, which leads me to believe that most of the MP's have done the same. This may not be fraud and he may, as they all say, have "acted within the rules". It doesn't make it right though, its excessive, sure he needs to furnish a second home but how much does the average person spend on a new bed? Certainly not £1300!

A quote from Mike O'Briens biography..

"My parents worked hard, they believed in doing the right thing and helping others and brought us up that way." "Despite its faults, I still believe that only the Labour Party really looks after working people and seeks social
justice and greater equality in Britain."
Hmmmmmm........
A copy of this blog has been sent to Mr O'Brien for comment at: obrienm@parliament.uk

Not Waving But Drowning - Stevie Smith

2009-06-22T11:10:00.001+01:00

Not Waving But Drowning

Nobody heard him, the dead man,
But still he lay moaning:
I was much further out than you thought
And not waving but drowning.

Poor chap, he always loved larking
And now he's dead
It must have been too cold for him his heart gave way,
They said.

Oh, no no no, it was too cold always
(Still the dead one lay moaning)
I was much too far out all my life
And not waving but drowning

A Victory For Apathy

2009-06-08T14:24:00.008+01:00

So the BNP got two seats in the Euro elections despite getting fewer votes than in the last Euro elections in 2004. A record low turnout of just 34.1%, thats 15.1 miilion who voted and 29.1 million who just couldn't be arsed.

The nice guy here on the right is now an MEP on a wage (paid by us) of about £6000 a month, plus the well known travel alowances and £150 a day "turning up" allowance amongst other freebies. Andrew Brons, here on the right (no pun intended) in his National Front days, was also a member of the National Socialist Movement, a nazi group that was responsible for such racist crimes as burning synagogues and mosques in the late '60's and early '70's. At the time Brons stated: “On this subject I have a dual view, in that I realise that he is well intentioned, I feel that our public image may suffer considerable damage as a result of these activities. I am however open to correction on this point.”

Later in his time with the National Front he became the NF's education officer and hosted seminars on racial nationalism. In 1982, Brons led an NF march through Northfield on which marchers chanted: “we’ve got to get rid of the blacks”.

A nazi in a Debenhams suit will now sit in Brussels representing the people of Yorkshire and Humberside. We shouldn't blame those who voted for him and his Boss Nick Griffin, as I said above they polled less than in 2004. In Yorkshire and Humber a grand total of 2.5 million people out of a possible 3.7 million did not vote. Mr Brons polled 120,000 votes and will now attempt to pass himself off as a respectable MEP for the next four years.

People like you NOT Voting at All

How ironic that it was the 65th anniversary of the D-Day landings over the weekend, old men payed their respect to the thousands of fallen friends who charged up beaches in order to rid Europe of Fascism. I think we should all be ashamed that scum like this , who represent the very thing that so many men died to get rid of, are even considered to be worth voting for. Our politicians should also take a good look at themselves if only 34.1% of the 44 million people eligible to vote even bothered. The only winner is Apathy, and now we have to wait another four years to get rid of these nazi scumbags.

I'm sure some of the old soldiers at the remembrance ceremonies in Normandy wondered why they bothered.

House Of Cards

2009-06-06T07:05:00.004+01:00

So finally the house of cards is falling down. Every day some no-mark minister resigns and Gordon Brown fills the vacancy with another no-mark MP and all the time says he's staying to ride out the economic crisis, or whatever.

What I don't understand is why everyone thinks that if Mr Brown goes then things will be so much better? Ok, as I've said before, he's weak and passionless and there are plenty in the Labour Party with some balls or actually look like they know what they are doing like Caroline Flint and David Miliband. Unfortunately even if Brown goes, or there's an election, will there be any real change? Politicians are still trying to gain the public trust after the expenses scandal and nothing, that I have seen at least, has been done to make me believe that this country is not run by ex-public schoolboys, career politicians and fame hungry idiots who want to shag a Cheeky Girl.

There is no quick fix to this. The system has to change and we need a new breed of politician that maybe, shock horror, is in it for the people not him/her self. That may take years.

Scarfe Cartoon- Thee Cleansing Of England

2009-06-05T13:45:00.002+01:00

Election? No Thanks!

2009-05-23T15:34:00.006+01:00

There have been calls recently for a snap general election, mainly from the Conservatives who know they would win as well as 65% of the general public who just want the useless government out. True, the peole in charge of our democracy have been seen to be corrupt , weak and out of touch with the people they are meant to represent. That, coupled with a leader who is unelected and has the drive and passion of a brussels sprout means for the first time in a long time, the people have raised their voices.

Unfortunately an Election is the last thing we need. To replace one corrupt bunch of career politicians for another bunch of career politicians? One weak leader for another weak leader, who will then have to rebuild a bankrupt Britain by making unpopular decisions such as higher taxes and cuts in public spending.

Politicians need to resore public confidence as can be seen by the recent council election in Salford, home (or one of the homes) of Hazel (£13,000 mortgage expenses) Blears MP. Labour officials in Salford had braced themselves for a backlash from voters and a possible surge in BNP support.

In the end, with voter turnout just 17.5%, Mr Mold (Labour) received 606 votes followed by the Liberal Democrats with 293. The BNP took 276 votes, the Conservatives 189, the Green Party 125 and UKIP 123.

BY-ELECTION RESULTS

Labour - 606 votes
Lib Dems - 293 votes
BNP - 276 votes
Conservatives - 189 votes
Green - 125 votes
UKIP - 123 votes

The borough of Salford has a poulation of almost a quarter of a million people, and just 606 people of the 1612 people who could be arsed decided who would run the council.

In 2005 the number of eligible voters was around 45 million, 17% of that is 7.7 million. Assuming the winning party gets 40% of the vote then that would mean that just over 300,000 people decide the fate of a country of 60 million.

Not exactly democracy at work is it?

We need a clean democracy, we need politicians that give a shit, we need a leader that people can look up to and trust in and we need our politicians, right now, to wake up to what is going on- our country is skint but we still print money and the people have had enough.

Until that happens, there is no point in an election..

Ashamed

2009-05-16T14:33:00.008+01:00

Steen: "Rabbit-Proofed"

Conservative MP for Totnes in Devon, Anthony Steen, is said to have claimed £87,000 over four years for his country home, including paying a forestry expert to inspect his trees, "rabbit-proofing" his property and general landscaping. He told the BBC he was being "pilloried" for the transparency of his claims and that he had never claimed for mortgage interest on the property. He described the expenses system as "appalling" and "unworkable". He also said on SkyNews that the public didn't understand the system. Its the systems fault, he said.

Am I an idiot? Are we all idiots? I understand what expenses are. What I, and probably the rest of the country don't understand is how rabbit-proofing your country mansion is of benefit to the taxpayer.

Also today the British marine killed in Afghanistan has been named as Jason Mackie, from The Royal Marines Armoured Support Group, by the Ministry of Defence.The 21-year-old, from Oxfordshire, died while travelling in a Viking vehicle in Helmand province on Thursday. Marine Mackies salary was around £18,000. With no bonuses or expenses.

Who serves this country more; Marine Jason Mackie on £18,000 a year, or Anthony Steen MP with his "basic" salary of £58,000 and an extra £22,000 from expenses on top ?

We should all be ashamed.

American Foreign Policy...I'm Lovin' It

2009-05-14T09:57:00.000+01:00

Nice Work If You Can Get It - (Part 3)

2009-05-11T09:30:00.005+01:00

So now its all in the open, the expenses row has now blown up in the MP's faces thanks to the Daily Telegraphs exposure of parliamentary receipts.

And its not just the odd few who have been found out; its almost every simgle one of them. From claiming for a ride on lawnmower to the "flipping" of the second home in order to get expenses (in other words doing up the house) twice. And when being questioned on these claimed expenses it always "in accordance with the rules". Does that make it OK then? How does getting the taxpayer to pay for mock tudor beams (John Prescott) enable the MP to do a better job for there constituents. Or the lawnmower, bath plug, tampax, underfloor heating for a tennis court.

Apparently some MP's have made a formal complaint to the police about the leak, who have to investigate (more taxpayers money). This is a democracy, MPs are voted there by us, for us and should be held accountable-BY US! Who though will look into the system and change it? - the MPs! The same MP's that are able to vote themselves a pay rise. Someone said that "no-one goes into politics to become rich". Well they're making a damn good job of proving that statement wrong; have you ever seen a poor MP?

The whole system has to change, and its time for the representatives of the people to actually represent them, not follow the party line, or simply smile at the camera and say "I've done nothing wrong". And maybe its time for us not to just blindly go along with it.

Banksy

2009-05-04T09:25:00.002+01:00

Anthem For a Doomed Youth - Wilfred Owen

2009-05-03T15:50:00.003+01:00

ANTHEM FOR DOOMED YOUTH

What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?
Only the monstrous anger of the guns.
Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle
Can patter out their hasty orisons.
No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells;
Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs, –
The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;
And bugles calling for them from sad shires.
What candles may be held to speed them all?
Not in the hands of boys but in their eyes
Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes.
The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall;
Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds,
And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.

Wilfred Owen; October, 1917

United We Stand

2009-05-02T08:22:00.009+01:00

Over a month ago workers at Visteon, an automotive parts manufacturer formerly owned by Ford, were told that they would be out of a job by administrators KPMG. Visteon had lost a total of £667 Million and the economic downturn meant that the firm which emplys over 600 people in Belfast , Basildon and Enfield could no longer continue. Workers were given an hours notice that they would have no paypacket or work the following week, pensions were slashed and a redundancy package announced. However the package wasn't the Ford pay-off that they were assured of when Visteon took over nine years previously.

Workers occupied the factory in Belfast, organising a sit-in for its 210 workers. Action was repeated at the palnts in Basildon and Enfield, although legal action was taken by KPMG and the workers evicted from the Basildon and Enfield plants. Understandably unhappy at their treatment and their pay-offs after, in some cases, a lifetime of service they deserved more than a few hours notice and a "sorry, its the economy". The Belfast sit-in has lasted a month (so far), with demonstrations by the local workers at Ford dealerships, the Visteon workers were fed by the local community and donations were given in a show of solidarity from Waterford Crystal in Eire. And continued protests by the other Visteon employees from Basildon and Enfield.

The protests are nearing the end. KPMG has agreed on a much improved financial package which the Unite Union will advise its members to accept, Unite spokesman Roger Madison said the deal was "ten times what people were being offered originally". "It's really great news and we're hoping that the guys will accept this," he said. The deal includes enhanced payments for redundancy, as well as compensation in lieu of notice and holiday pay. This doesnt mean its a happy ending; the men who have spent a lifetime at the plant are unlikely to work without retraining, unless its a menial job. The local economy will also suffer the knock-on effects.

"They've only been offered this because of the actions taken, especially by the
people in west Belfast - to lock themselves in a plant for nearly a month is
refreshing - it's old-fashioned trade unionism." - Roger Madison

Despite the politicians well meaning talk but little action, and KPMG attempting to slap an eviction order on the workers. It was the workers themselves, along with the support of the community that esured their voices were heard. Lets hope this is the start of a new era of workers solidarity.

Gurkha Cartoon

2009-04-30T12:54:00.001+01:00

Breaking News....

2009-04-29T16:36:00.002+01:00

In the last few hours the governments new "criteria" for Gurkha residency has been defeated in the commons. Common sense at last! Home Secretary Jacqui Smith (yes her!) is going to revue the revue, and a new policy should be in place by the Summer.

I wonder if they read this blog? Simon Hutt- the voice of the people! Ha Ha!

You Can't Live Here, But You Can Die For Us.

2009-04-29T14:28:00.003+01:00

Another fine day for this country's decision makers in not allowing

Gurkhas the right to stay in the country they serve.

The Gurkhas have been recruited from Nepal for the last 200 years and have fought in every theatre under the British flag, in their history the Brigade of Gurkhas has won 13 Victoria Crosses, the highest award for bravery. These guys have balls of steel.

The government has revued the system and come up with a set of criteria the Gurkhas must fulfil before being allowed to stay here. Government Minister Mr Woolas outlined the eligibility criteria in a written statement. Gurkhas and their families will be allowed to stay in the UK if they meet at least one of five requirements.

Three years of continuous residence in the UK,
Close family in the country,
Twenty or more years of service,
A level one to three bravery award,
A serious medical condition caused or aggravated by service.

Or at least two of an additional set of three criteria.

Having been awarded an MoD disability pension but no longer having a chronic condition
Having been mentioned in dispatches
Ten years' service or a campaign medal

But actress Joanna Lumley, whose father served with the Gurkhas, said most Gurkhas would not have been allowed to stay in the UK for three years or have gained a bravery award. She added that only officers would have achieved 20 years of service, and that it would be near-impossible for troops who served in the 1950s and 1960s to prove that their medical conditions were caused by their time in the forces.

Gordon Brown said today that there is "serious costs" involved in allowing Gurkhas and there families to stay and if all Gurkhas and there families stayed there would be at least 100,000 people. Under the above criteria it is estimated around 100 would qualify. I'm sure there are "serious costs" for a Gurkha to spill blood for a country that isn't his. Incidentally, after serving in the French Foreign Legion soldiers are allowed French citizenship.

I wonder if Mr Woolas or Mr Brown would dare say it to a Gurkhas face......

The Three Stooges

2009-04-23T10:14:00.002+01:00

Chavez, Castro and Morales - Who Said Socialist Dictatorships Were Dead?

Morales - Bolivian Assassin (Part 3)

2009-04-22T16:01:00.005+01:00

A video was shown yesterday on Hungarian TV of an interview with Eduardo Flores. The interview, by Andras Kepes, was recorded several weeks ago and was meant to be shown if Flores did not return from Bolivia. In it he gives the reasons for going.

Flores said that he went to Bolivia to defend Santa Cruz, in case of a civil war. He said to Andras Kepes that he had received a request to help defending Santa Cruz from government forces. About a year and a half ago, it appeared that Bolivia would plunge into a civil war. He had been asked to help organize the defense of Santa Cruz, said Flores. Those who contacted him wanted a peaceful secession of Santa Cruz, by demonstrating force. There was a chance that government forces will sweep through the city and we declare independence. We had got the money and the weapons acquiring them through illegal channels, continued Flores.

"I am not going there to organize the attack of La Paz and chase away the president, that doesn't even cross the [Bolivian] easterners' minds," he said in the interview, which aired Tuesday on Hungarian station MTV1. "We are ready, within a few months in case co-existence doesn't work under autonomy, to proclaim independence and create a new country," Mr. Rózsa said. He said he was invited by Mr. Morales's political opponents, but didn't say who financed his mission.

He crossed into Bolivia illegally from Brazil. He hadn't asked for money for this project because of the love of his country, said Flores.

"I have never been a mercenary and never will be" he said.

When he was asked about death, he said "Here too, a brick can fall on my head, how strange it would be". "If something will happen to me, it was destined to happen" he said.

Destiny did indeed happen. It is unfortunate that the interview has been aired so early as this is all the evidence that Morales needed to justify his actions. And whilst Flores and the others may have been there to train opposition forces for a civil war that was unlikely to happen, the fact remains that they were unarmed and, apart from their intentions, had done nothing wrong. What effect this has on Tadic and Taozo remains to be seen, but the evidence from Flores is there for all to see. We can only hope that an international investigation is allowed to prove that they were killed unlawfully and that Tadic and Toazo are charged with "conspiracy". In Morales' Bolivia however, it seems unlikely.

Morales - Bolivian Assassin (Part 2)

2009-04-21T11:40:00.005+01:00

Courtesy http://www.hungarianambiance.com/

Víctor Hugo Escóbar, Bolivian police chief who accused Eduardo Rózsa Flores and his men of planning to kill the president of Bolivia. However, the nephew of Eduardo Rózsa Flores, a resident of Santa Cruz said that Flores went to Bolivia for a filming project.

Police Mugshots of Toaso and Tadic

Flores and his friends registered into the hotel on Tuesday evening and stayed in their rooms when the supposed assassination attempt on bishop Julio Terrazas took place, reported the hotel management. This obviously contradicts to the claim of the Bolivian government, according to which the operation has been carried out by Flores (pictured below) and his men.

The car that according to authorities the Flores gang used in the attempt to assassinate the bishop was in the parking lot of the hotel all the time, said hotel employees. The same employees told to the La Razon paper that police found no weapons, at all, in any of the rooms. Hotel employees reported other strange things happening during the night when Flores and his friends were killed. The security camera wasn't working on Thursday morning, between 3:10 am to 9 am, the time when the operation took place. Security forces blew out first, the door of room 458; this was Flores' room. Here they found ten bullets. In the room of Árpád Magyarosi, they found three bullets and in the room of Michael Martin Dwyer (pictured below), one bullet.

Hotel management said that they would file an official protest because a special police unit coming from La Paz, deleted all guest information from the hotel's computers.

Arpad-clearly a "Terrorist"

All these accidents show that the Bolivian government's version of killing Flores and his friends has no truth. What we know for sure is that three men were ambushed and killed in a hotel room by security forces. There was no shootout as it was reported previously. No weapons and explosives have been found with them either. It is highly unlikely, even bizarre to think that an experienced soldier like Flores, sets up his clandestine headquarter in a hotel full of cameras and other recording devices, rather than in a safe-house with escape routes. Obviously, the three men were in the hotel for other reasons then the police tells us. Even a few days before he was killed, Flores was busy creating graphics for his blog and writing a long article to free five Hungarian boys from Serbian jail. It is ridiculous to think that someone who is about to assassinate a president spending his evenings creating graphics and blog entries.

The Bolivian version of events is slowly unravelling, hopefully for the sake of the two men in custody, interational pressure will be put on Morales.

-more to follow-

Morales - Bolivian Assassin (Part1)

2009-04-18T13:50:00.005+01:00

On 16th April 3 men were murdered and 2 others arrested in Santa Cruz by Bolivian security services. They were allegedly part of a team meant to assassinate Bolivian President Evo Morales.

Its bullshit

Firstly, as can be seen from this video, the men were in bed and unarmed. Hardly the "firefight" the police chief said it was, unless of course that they were chased into their hotel rooms and stripped off to their boxers to have a kip before getting a couple of bullets in the chest.

(Graphic Content) http://www.budapesttimes.hu/content/view/11706/219/

Secondly the alleged "arms cache" that the team had was found in a house "nearby" though only put on show today, there is no evidence that the group had or went near any weapons and clearly as the video shows- they were unarmed.

The so called "arms cache"- a couple of shotguns??

Thirdly, only two of the men had military experience Eduardo Flores (49) and Mario Tadic (58) who both fought in the war in Croatia. Mario is a personal friend of mine and has a young wife and young baby- hardly the Jackal. The three others aged between 23 and 29 had no military experience, and according to his friends the Irishman Michael Dwyer (24) was described as "a bit of a Walter Mitty".

One of the dead being taken to the morgue

This is a government ordered murder. Evo Morales has done this in order to show his political opponents he's not a man to be messed with. This needs to be investigated.

The dead were Magyarosi Arpak (29), a Hungarian, and Irishman Michael Martin Dwyer (24) along with Eduardo Rosa Flores (49), a Bolivian-Hungarian. The two men arrested were Chilean-Croat Mario Francisco Tadic Astorga (58) and Elot Toazo, a Hungarian computer expert.

...More to follow....

Thin Blue Line?

2009-04-17T13:30:00.006+01:00

I hate complaining about the Police. They have a shit job and get no thanks for the decent stuff they do, not only that but one of my best friends is a Police Officer and he has almost been killed when he arrested a burglar who was armed with crowbar. I guess its a minority that give the force a bad name.

At the G20 summit last month the police used a tactic called "kettling"; that is creating a physical barrier by "penning" protesters in and slowly making the pen smaller. No protesters can get in or out of the cordon and the idea is that they get bored and after some time they just want to go home. A fine idea. However if you are an innocent bystander just getting off the tube at the wrong place (ie in the cordon) you're screwed. This was the case with Ian Tomlinson, a newspaper seller trying to get home from work.

Mr Tomlinson sadly died shortly after being struck by a Police baton and thrown to the ground. Just because he wanted to get home and watch the England match.

Also new video has emerged of a woman first getting slapped in the face, then being hit with a baton by the Police; all allegedly for swearing! How many other acts of violence have gone unseen? And what exactly did the protesters do to deserve any of this? Sure, they broke the windows of the RBS building, but how many windows get broken in your home town on a Friday or Saturday night? and how many Police are around then? Anyway RBS is 70% owned by the taxpayer so its public property...

The Officers in question have been suspended pending an investigation by the IPCC, but the other practices of hiding PC numbers so as not to be identified, kettling and the batoning of protesters legs will still remain.

Free Speech.

2009-04-10T16:55:00.001+01:00

Let Them Eat Cake.

2009-04-02T11:17:00.013+01:00

The G20 summit is now in full swing with the twenty economically largest nations in the World hoping to end the recession and recreate a "new capitalism". Gordon Brown wins the ass-kissing award by doing what every Prime Minister has always done in sucking up and doing everything but give a blow-job to Barack Obama, whose eyes simply said "dead man walking". Mr Brown on the other hand hoped that some of Obamas shine would rub off on him- but you can't polish a turd Gordon.

In one camp we have the UK and US who want to pump more taxpayers money into the corporate black hole that is the western worlds financial system, and the other camp of France and Germany who want tighter financial controls, transparency and an end to "tax havens". The sensible option would be for the latter, unfortunately it would mean riding out the recession and make Gordon Brown even more unpopular than he already is; and he doesn't want that does he?

Meanwhile in the real world away from state dinners and lunch cooked by Jamie Fucking Oliver, the masses are revolting. On Saturday 10,000 people were expected to turn up and protest against the G20 summit. The figure was three times that - 35,000 people expressing their right to protest against everything the G20 stood for and didn't listen to. The fact that so many people are pissed off at the current situation should count for something, especially when the event itself costs £50 million to stage and a further £10 million for the policing of it all.

And what will the upshot be after this £60 million worth of political ass-kissing? Not a lot. A "compromise" will be made that helps no one, the fat cats will get fatter, Mr Brown will keep smiling, Obama will be glad to be back in the US where he is loved, the police will be counting all the overtime they've done.

And as for the 35,000 protesters and the rest of the average population of the world? Maybe Jamie Oliver will say "let them eat cake".

The Two Most Disliked Men In Britain..

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised- Gil Scott-Heron

2009-03-29T20:49:00.006+01:00

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

You will not be able to stay home, brother.

You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out.

You will not be able to lose yourself on skag and skip,

Skip out for beer during commercials,

Because the revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be brought to you by Xerox

In 4 parts without commercial interruptions.

The revolution will not show you pictures of Nixon

blowing a bugle and leading a charge by John

Mitchell, General Abrams and Spiro Agnew to eat

hog maws confiscated from a Harlem sanctuary.

The revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be brought to you by the

Schaefer Award Theatre and will not star Natalie

Woods and Steve McQueen or Bullwinkle and Julia.

The revolution will not give your mouth sex appeal.

The revolution will not get rid of the nubs.

The revolution will not make you look five pounds

thinner, because the revolution will not be televised, Brother.

There will be no pictures of you and Willie May

pushing that shopping cart down the block on the dead run,

or trying to slide that color television into a stolen ambulance.

NBC will not be able predict the winner at 8:32

or report from 29 districts.

The revolution will not be televised.

There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down

brothers in the instant replay.

There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down

brothers in the instant replay.

There will be no pictures of Whitney Young being

run out of Harlem on a rail with a brand new process.T

here will be no slow motion or still life of Roy

Wilkens strolling through Watts in a Red, Black and

Green liberation jumpsuit that he had been saving

For just the proper occasion.

Green Acres, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Hooterville

Junction will no longer be so damned relevant, and

women will not care if Dick finally gets down with

Jane on Search for Tomorrow because Black people

will be in the street looking for a brighter day.

The revolution will not be televised.

There will be no highlights on the eleven o'clock

news and no pictures of hairy armed women

liberationists and Jackie Onassis blowing her nose.

The theme song will not be written by Jim Webb,

Francis Scott Key, nor sung by Glen Campbell, Tom

Jones, Johnny Cash, Englebert Humperdink, or the Rare Earth.

The revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be right back after a message

about a white tornado, white lightning, or white people.

You will not have to worry about a dove in your

bedroom, a tiger in your tank, or the giant in your toilet bowl.

The revolution will not go better with Coke.

The revolution will not fight the germs that may cause bad breath.

The revolution will put you in the driver's seat.

The revolution will not be televised, will not be televised,

will not be televised, will not be televised.

The revolution will be no re-run brothers;

The revolution will be live.

Nice Work If You Can Get It. Part 2.1

2009-03-29T13:32:00.004+01:00

Even I am starting to get bored of this. You'd think that MP's by now, whilst their constituents are struggling with the recession, would be treading very carefully. For me though, it looks like they're milking the system for all they can get, knowing full well that come the next Election they will be out. This time its Jacqui Smith, the high profile Home Office Minister.

Jacqui Smith-Nice

She has just claimed, on expenses of course, for a couple of pay-per-view films including two porno movies watched by her husband, although why he needs porn when he's married to such a stunner is beyond me! It also transpires she has claimed £2000 for two large flatscreen TV's, £550 for a sink and £2000 for electrical items including two washing machines, amongst many other things.

She is already under investigation for claiming her huge family home in Redditch as her "second" home and a room at her sisters in London where she stays for four days a week as her main residence; so far she has claimed £116,000 for her second home.

Heres the best bit; her porno-watching hubby is employed by her as her "researcher" and is paid a £40,000 a year salary. I wonder if he's worried about redundancy, and maybe the porn was part of his research?

G20 Protests; The Revolution Starts Here?

2009-03-29T12:31:00.001+01:00

Be Pure, Be Vigilant, Behave.

2009-03-25T10:00:00.000Z

Last week saw the unveiling of Googles new street mapping service, which has caused accusations of everything from an invasion of privacy to serious security issues.

Google Streetmap image of the Houses of Parliament, removed soon after

But why the sudden outcry over the possibility of some random nobody on the Internet voyeuristically looking in your front room window. This is only news because it's in the public domain and that anyone, God forbid, can see your house. There was an old statistic, although incorrect, that the average person will be caught on CCTV an average of 300 times a day. In central London this will be higher, in rural areas less so, nevertheless your still being watched at some point.

Even if you cant be seen, you can still be tracked; every time you use your mobile your location and direction of travel can be pinpointed by triangulation of the phone masts. Oh, and while were on mobiles, or any phone for that matter, who you are calling and who is calling you is also logged. Car number plate recognition cameras can will store 18 billion cars identities on the roads this year.

Not only is it your location that "someone" can find out, are hundreds of government and media databases with your information on. The sites you visit on the Internet, spending patterns. The NHS, TV license, credit cards and credit history, work history, your childrens names, ages and schools, benefits, council tax, travel patterns, National Insurance contributions, Road tax, passport details and driving license. Then there are the more sensitive databases; the national DNA database which you will be on even if you were proven innocent (currently 800,00 innocent people), the social services children at risk register and there is even a register for obese children.

So next time your worried about someone knowing the colour of your front door, remember that a bureaucrat in a dingy office somewhere probably knows that you like wearing ladies underwear.

Nice Work If You Can Get It. Part 2

2009-03-24T11:00:00.001Z

Congratulations to the Right Honourable Nigel Griffiths MP , caught shagging a hooker. Not only was the family values crusader having a bit of extra-marital action but the dozy bastard:

Took photos (right)

Did it in the Palace of Westminster

Did it on Remembrance Day

On Sunday he claimed the pictures must have been "fabricated" and it was an outright lie, denying any wrondoing. The following day he backtracked and gave the stock response of an MP caught out that he was "deeply ashamed" though he had no recollection of the "mystery brunette". I'm pretty sure I would recall a night spent with her.

The influential Mr Griffiths once shared a flat with Gordon Brown and TonyBlair (make of that what you will) and was one of Gordon Browns staunchest supporters, he was also on the high profile Commons Accounts Committee.

He has one of the smallest majorities (not according to the mystery brunette) in Parliament, and is likely to be given the boot. We can only hope. His wife of thirty years (Sally, pictured right with Mr Griffiths) will no doubt say she is standing by him.

I don't expect all politicians to be squeeky clean but at least they could be discrete about it, then again she does have nice legs, and I wonder if he claimed her on expenses.........

Nice Work If You Can Get It.

2009-03-23T08:42:00.014Z

Another day and another MP caught milking the taxpayer in the form of expenses. This time it was Tony McNulty , ironically Minister of Employment, who claimed a total of £60,000 in "expenses" for an office that was eight miles from his home.

McNulty: Greedy Bastard

MP's are "allowed" and Additional Costs Allowance of £24,000 a year to cover the likes of a second home. Possibly justifiable if you live in Barrow, not if you live in Harrow East as Mr McNulty does. Earlier this year Home Secretary Jacqui Smith had to defend her actions after it emerged she had claimed about £116,000 in expenses for her family home in the West Midlands after declaring her sister's property in London - where she stayed four days a week - as her main residence.

The MP's Gravy Train:

"Basic" Salary of £57,485
The annual staffing allowance per Member varies between £66,458 and £77,534 maximum.This is designed to pay for between two and three full-time equivalent staff. Members with London constituencies are eligible for the £77,534 maximum. Members with constituencies outside London can receive £66,458 plus an enhanced allowance of £3,500 for each member of staff whose work is mainly in London, up to a maximum of £77,534 in total.
Certain IT equipment for Members' offices is also centrally provided and maintained.Each Member is entitled to a standard package of 3 PCs, 1 laptop computer, 2 combined printers/scanners/copiers/answer machines (or dedicated printers) and associated software. This includes provision for constituency offices.
Incidental Expenses Provision of £19,325 is available for other expenses involved in running an office (eg, office rents and rates).
Additional Costs Allowance of £20,902 pa. Reimburses Members with constituencies outside inner London for expenses incurred in staying overnight away from home whilst performing parliamentary duties.
Motor Mileage Allowance of 57.7 pence per mile for the first 20,000 miles then 26.6 pence per additional mileReimburses Members for the cost of travel by car or motorbike between Westminster and Members’ constituencies and their homes and for other approved journeys on parliamentary business.

This is simply greed. MP's have benefits and salaries that most of us could only dream of so why the need to claim expenses. They chose to be public servants and represent their constituencies didn't they? Or am I being too unrealistic again? What happened to the term "Right Honourable" Member of Parliament?

Maybe MP's should have some kind of performance related pay; in which case Employment Minister Mr McNulty would be well and truly screwed.

See You In The Hague? You're Having A Laugh!

2009-03-19T08:57:00.004Z

The rockets that Hamas fired from Gaza into Israel killed approximately 13 people over a seven year period, in response Israel laid seige to Gaza and over a few months killed around 1400 people. The siege has choked one of the most densely populated areas of the middle east with a population of 1.5 Million people. The seige is in place so that hamas is starved of weapons and in doing so the people of gaza are starved, literally. Not only is it food that cannot enter but also medicine and humanitarian aid. Disproportionate? Just a bit..

Israel has punished the whole population of Gaza for the crimes of the few (Hamas), and the manner in which they have done it is totally unjustifiable and illegal. The most blatant case is the use of phosphorous shells (above left) Israel says it is used as a smokescreen, but as is obvious in this picture its used as an indescriminate airburst weapon. The horrific thing about phosphorous is that it burns through everything; through clothes, flesh and bone and cannot be stopped unless it is literally scraped off. Israel has also long favoured the use of bulldozers. Many civilian houses, especially in the ouskirts of the city or in rural areas were bulldozed to the ground, despite white flags being waved. Israels artillery and aircraft continually shelled the city; every municipal building from police stations to rail terminals were flattened; destroying what little infrastructure the Gaza Strip had.

In a war there are civilian casualties, it is naive to think otherwise. But civilian casulaties can be minimised, though this was never Israels intention. Shelling a city is indescriminate, using phosphorous is unnecassary and horrific, bulldozing civilian homes is ethnic cleansing, and there are many more individual cases . All these are consisdered, according to the UNs definition, to be War Crimes.

"Any Israeli soldier accused of war crimes in the Gaza Strip will be given state

protection from prosecution overseas." -Ehud Olmert, Israeli P M.

So what will happen? Well, another indictator last week says it all. Barack Obama's pick for the head of US intelligence Charles Freeman, had to resign for what he called "barrage of libellous distortions" of his record by the Israel lobby in the US . Mr Freeman was outspoken in his
criticism of Israel in Gaza, as have most right thinking human beings, as well as many other foreign policy issues. The pressure was mounted by the ZOA ( Zionists of America- no, I'm not making this up!) who started the email campaign to drag Charles Freemans name down. As one commentator put it "the Israel lobby has won".

I'm not one of those "Jewish Conspiracay Theorists" but if they can do that, what chance of any of Israel war criminals appearing at the International Courts of Justice in the Hague alongside the likes of Charles Taylor (Liberia), or Radovan Karadzic (Serbia)- after all they are as guilty as each other. Yes ,the answer is no chance. The UN doesn't have the balls to stand up to Israel, the EU can't dangle the carrot of membership as it did with countries of the former Yugoslavia,and thanks to the likes of the ZOA, the US is unable to. And despite all the well meaning talk of investigations and charges nothing will come of it.

So what next for Gaza? As usual the world will watch the bulldozers destroy homes and phosphorous rain down on innocent civilians, but it's OK because we don't live there. And besides, according to Israel, Gaza started it......... didnt they?

Ethnic Cleansing; Israeli Style

I Do Not Agree With What You Say....

2009-03-16T10:00:00.008Z

"I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it." -Voltaire

Soldiers of 2nd Bn Royal Anglians parading through Watford.

The anti-war protests in Luton last week divided opinion, they did however make me very proud to live in a country of free speech and at the same time made the protesters themselves look like a bunch of total arseholes.

I mean, they live in a country where they can turn up wherever they want and, more or less, say whatever they want. As can I. The strange thing is that if they get their wish and impose Sharia law on the UK, the very thing they are doing will result in them probably having a swift beating if not worse. the other thing is; who are they protesting at? Soldiers are predominantly working class men who have joined the Army to get away from a life of crime, unemployment and inner-city deprivation. Anybody who calls them "baby-killers" or "butchers of Baghdad" are so off the mark its unbelievable. Do they want to be there? No. Have they created a semblance of stability in a country that has just got rid of a Dictator (Iraq) or the extremist Taleban (Afghanistan)? Yes. Do they abide by the rules of war as laid out in the Geneva Convention? Yes. So sure; protest, but blame Blair and Bush for getting us involved in the first place, not a load of young men from the Royal Anglians.

The security issues are another thing that bothers me; why were'nt these protesters dragged away in a riot van under The Prevention of Terrorism Act, Public Order Act, or charged with Breach of the Peace, or Incitement to Cause Racial hatred? I know if they were left-wingers protesting against the G8 summit, another runway at Heathrow, GM crops or anti-capitalism; they would have been filmed, photographed and the slightest misdemeanour would have them dragged off and thrown in the van. So why not these guys? Probably, dare I say it, because they were Muslim, and their arrest would spark accusations of racism and result in a police backlash. Also one of the protesters was a baggage handler at Luton airport, now I'm no MI5 Agent but I realise that there are some security implications there. We have to walk through Airport security with our toiletries (under 500ml of course) in clear plastic bags while there's a Muslim "extremist" throwing our bags onto the plane! I doubt anything will change, which as usual, will unfortunately play straight into the hands of the BNP.

It would be great if all the moderate Muslims in the UK spoke with one "loud" voice and said these people don't represent the majority of Muslims, and at the same time us white anglo-saxons spoke up and realised that Muslims are not our "common enemy". Because at the moment, thanks to the likes of the men of the Royal Anglians, we can speak up - it's a free country.

"It is the Soldier, not the minister
Who has given us freedom of religion.
It is the Soldier, not the reporter
Who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the Soldier, not the poet
Who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the Soldier, not the campus organizer
Who has given us freedom to protest.
It is the Soldier, not the lawyer
Who has given us the right to a fair trial.
It is the Soldier, not the politician
Who has given us the right to vote.
It is the Soldier who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who allows the protester to burn the flag."

Its Harder to Take the Piss Out Of Obama.

2009-03-15T13:11:00.002Z

Do As I Say, Not As I Do.

2009-03-12T08:02:00.001Z

It's hard to imagine, for us "normal" people, what extreme wealth is. Just as it would be hard for us to imagine what being extremely poor is, (thats having no food,not having no TV). However, I do know what I need to live on, and it isn't much really. Shelter, food and water are the basics, My family and I also have decent clothes, my children have a free education, we go shopping at Asda every week and get everything we need. Fresh drinking water flows from a tap and I even have free healthcare. I look at the world around me sometimes and think how lucky I am to live in Britain rather than Burkina Faso.

You'd think that if people can buy a Rolls Royce there really is no excuse for people dying of starvation. The joys of inequality, one day this may change but it will be a long time coming.

Bono: I Click My Fingers And I Earn Another Million..

The thing that pisses me off are those that preach to us that we should do something about it whilst sitting in their ivory towers. OK, so its easy to have a pop at these people, celebrities are walking adverts for causes. And yes, Bono has done a shit load in the way of bringing campaigns such as "Drop the Debt", "Make Poverty History", "War Child" into the public consciousness. However , do you also know that U2 are worth £635 Million, and recently (as a company) moved to the Netherlands to avoid tax. Tax, if I'm not mistaken, is used for hospitals, schools, public transport and a welfare system amongst many others; maybe Ireland isn't as sexy for U2 as Darfur is, although the tax they have saved has been turned into profit rather than demining the Sudan. Phil Collins, (worth £140 Million) has also moved to Switzerland so he doesnt have to pay for Britains poor, and at the same time set up a charity The Dream Foundation, which “..... aims to make dreams come true for children between the ages of 4 and 16 who have a special gift or talent in athletics or the arts.” Hmmm, maybe if he'd paid his taxes then our schools would do that?

Sting is worth £200 Million. Thats £200,000,000. Thats a lot of tantric sex in rainforests. Just how many millions do people actually need? What can you do with £200 Million? (anything you want obviously) would he notice if he was worth £100 Million instead of £200 Million? Or £10 Million? Surely if you can make a difference in the world you should do it, not just talk about it.

Imagine if just U2, Sting and Phil Collins gave up half their wealth, thats not including the many other "stars" who talk the talk like Chris "Fairtrade" Martin (£45M), and Bob "Give us Yer Fockin' Money" Geldof (£46M), or Paul "PETA" McCartney (£200M- I thought I'd lay off him this time) . Its not as if they would miss it is it?

U2, Sting and Mr Collins' combined wealth is a headache inducing £975,000,000. Almost a £1 Billion! Half of that = £487,500,000.

I don't know what £487 Million would do to the poor, or the rainforests, or land mine clearance. I do know that according to the UN the minimum level for a human being to live on is just over £1 per person per day, anything below that is considered extreme poverty. And there are 320 Million people in sub-saharan Africa alone in "extreme poverty". £487 Million can save a lot of lives, or at least make them bearable.

It can make a big difference to those in sub-saharan Africa, but it wouldn't make any difference to Sting or Bono, after all they still have free healthcare, clean drinking water from the tap, can go shoppping at Asda, have a house to live in.......

Simon Hutt's "Emperors New Clothes" Theory

2009-03-09T12:35:00.007Z

OK, here's how it goes.

Bloke is paid £150k to design the logo for the London 2012 Olympics. Some time later he comes back with the design and presents it to the "Big Cheese".

Big Cheese looks at it and thinks; -Fuck me this looks shit, but I've paid £150 thou for it, so it must be good. "yeah Ilike it" he says. Big Cheeses understudy also thinks its shit, but as his boss said its OK then it must be. After all; opinion is subjective and he thinks maybe its only him that thinks it shit and he doesn't want to look like an arse. "Brilliant, it's genius" he says sucking up to the Big Cheese.

Job done. £150 thousand of taxpayers money wasted on the shittest logo the world has ever seen that makes the UK look like a bunch of gimps. All because somebody said its "OK" and everyone went along with it. It includes the Oympics themselves; they've cost £5 Billion and rising, what a fucking fantastic idea. A really expensive sporting event that lasts a couple of months- genius!! Who needs social housing when we have the Olympics?

I often wonder how often this happens; Did Tony Blair ask the Cabinet "I think its a great idea if we invade Iraq and Afghanistan, whos in?", "er...yes boss" everyone agrees because they don't want to disagree, because disagreeing would mean the PM was wrong, and then you might be out of a job. Four hundred dead British soldiers later.......
It could also apply to Paul McCartney (again), everyone says he's great because they think that everyone else thinks he's great; when in actual fact he hasn't done anything remotely good since Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.

I think its about time people started disagreeing instead of following along with these shit decisions all because people at the top think its a good idea. So next time if you think something or someone's idea is shit, and I probably would too...

THEN SAY SO!

Starstruck

2009-03-04T11:25:00.015Z

I've never been into the culture of celebrity. Over the past decade or so the term "celebrity" is now a job title itself. Fame has become an aspiration for the young, the queues for the X-Factor or Big Brother auditions, or indeed any of the other seemingly hundreds of voyeuristic "talent" shows are testament to the length people to go to "get on the telly". In fact it really pisses me off; 15 minutes of fame, or possibly national humiliation. then there are the celebrity celebrities who are famous for...? why the hell does the world want to know about Paris Hilton? What is she for? Paul McCartney is another one. As part of the Beatles, he changed modern music and summed up the sixties; a decade in which peoples attitudes completely changed. Now though, ......he's shit. Has he done anything good or memorable in his solo career? No, he's shit, but everyone says hes great because they think they should.

OK!...Hands Up Who Gives a Shit

I've met famous people before; Kate Adie and John Major in the Gulf, I saw Larry Grayson in Debenhams in Nuneaton once and I even had a "lunch" (along with several hundred other squaddies) with Prince Charles and the late Lady Diana. Nothing, not a flicker, to me they were just people I had seen on "the telly" so what? Only once have I ever become a gibbering idiot, frozen to the spot and almost piss my pants.

I was a manager of a Bookmaker's in Birmingham in about 2003. I was having a cigarette in the back room while my cashier served customers on a quiet weekday.

"Have we got any early prices on the 3.30 at Chester?" She called to me.

I walked out to help her..... and I saw him.

He was a giant of a man, hair now greying at the sides but the trademark curls were still there.

"Er.........er..........umm.........yeah" I managed to say, he smiled at me, a wad of notes in his huge, infamous hands.

The young cashier carried on serving him, taking his bet on the race at Chester whilst I watched, shaking in awe of the legend that is .....Peter Shilton. PETER FUCKING SHILTON!! England's most capped player, one of the countries greatest ever goalkeepers and idol of my youth. The European Cup with Nottingham Forest to Maradona's infamous "Hand of God", an almost Afro-like haircut and tight shorts, pulling off miraculous saves in a career spanning 30 years, over 1000 matches. They don't make players like him anymore, if only we had him now. I wanted to ask him how he felt about Maradona, what about the new crop of English goalkeepers? career highlight? has the beautiful game abandoned its working class roots or just been hijacked by the middle classes and corporate greed?

Mexico 86: Maradona scores past Mr Shilton with his
"Hand of God" and Agrentina beat England 2-1.
Revenge for "Las Malvinas" 4 years previously.
Cheating bastards.

Legend:Mr Peter Shilton OBE

The horse came nowhere; he threw his betting slip in the bin, smiled, waved and left.

"Are you OK? What was all that about? Who was he?" The cashier asked.

"That...was Peter...fucking...Shilton" I stuttered.

"Who?" She said.

All Grown Up

2009-03-03T12:14:00.000Z

My job is what is politely known as a "househusband" which sound slightly patronising, I prefer the term "Stay-at-home-Dad" even though that still sounds shit. I have 4 children ; the eldest is 10 the youngest is 3; oh and there's also a 15 year old sister-in-law who sometimes stays here after an argument with her Mum ( quite often!)

I fell into the job of stayathomedad when I had to give up my last job as a kitchen salesman (I wasn't good at lying and verbally bullying people), and its not easy trying to get a job with a criminal record, disability and PTSD (see below). So my wife went and got herself a good job, while I got to satisfy my OCD by tidying the house and I get to watch my children grow up. A win-win situation, and no one questions the masculinity of a 6 foot tattooed man with a skinhead haircut (me).

Thats just it though; they're growing up. My little boy starts nursery in September, just for the mornings, but he's on his own, or rather, I'm on my own. So what the hell am I supposed to do? Tidy the house in an eerie silence, knowing that there's no 3 year old whirlwind to come along and undo all my handiwork- wheres the fun in that. Its not just that. I've always known that I like staying at home: I don't have to go out and be nice to people and I hate crowds.

Maybe thats what I could do when September comes; become a human being again?

Scars

2009-02-28T14:00:00.006Z

"Britain's highest-decorated serving soldier has criticised the government for
failing to help ex-servicemen and women suffering mental health problems.
Lance Corporal Johnson Beharry, who was awarded the Victoria Cross, said it
was "disgraceful" that some veterans struggled to get treatment." - BBC News.

No shit Johnson, welcome to my world!

I remember my assessment at RAF Headley Court, the Forces Rehabilitation Centre at the end on 1993. Flight Lieutenant Turnbull, the top shrink of the forces after a brief chat said "You don't have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder". And approved me to get Court Martialled and discharged from the British Army.

Of course I didn't have a problem when I was in the Army; I was surrounded by people who had done, seen or been through the same kind of things I had, a shared experience that only those who have been through it can understand. In my case it was the first Gulf war, then Bosnia. it could easily be the beaches of Normandy, Northern Ireland, or right now, Iraq and Afghanistan.

No, it's not an Army problem. I was diagnosed in 1994 by an underfunded and inexperienced Community Mental Health Team, who, despite meaning well, were still civvies who could never understand. This was after spending my time in a downward spiral of drink, drugs and violence and not quite knowing why. The well-meaning civvies and their medication didn't help and I eventually, and predictably, ended up in prison. The Prison Doctor actually said he didn't believe in PTSD, those very words- "I don't believe in PTSD.I had no choice but to help myself; meditation, reading, painting. No alcohol, no drugs.

It still works...just. I still have the nightmares and the panic attacks and see snipers in far off hedges, but I can cope. the sad thing is it took ten years of my life to come out the other side. I hope it's different nowadays; it must be, I'm pretty sure though that it's still the NHS that tries to pick up the pieces.

So when you see the guys come back from Iraq or Afghanistan; remember that somewhere inside, even if they don't know it themselves, they have scars that no one can see. And you can bet the likes of Flt Lt Turnbull, well meaning civvies, medication or prison doctors won't be able to help.

Good luck Mr Beharry.....

The Last Straw

2009-02-26T16:33:00.008Z

I really have had enough with these money grabbing bastards. Fred Goodwin, ex-Chairman of Royal Bank of Scotland, screwed the bank making a £24 Bilion loss and was, quite rightfully given the boot. We now find out that he still gets a pension from RBS of £640,000 per year, not only that, but he now insists that it is rightfully his and has no intention of waiving his right to it. At the same time the British taxpayer has had to bail out the bank adding another £16 Billion on top of the £20 Billion we have already given the bank to stave off bankruptcy.

Is it me or is all this just totally obscene, imagine what £36 Billion could do for society.

For a start why does he deserve anything, shouldnt he be paying us (the taxpayer) compensation. Also who the fuck needs to live on £640,000 a year!! The man is disgusting, the problem is that there are plenty more out there exactly the same; the "suits" rewarding themselves ridiculous amounts even though they've all run up massive losses, along with the politicians who turned a blind eye when the money was rolling in, are now trying to backpedal and squirm their way out of any responsibility in the whole mess.

"Even better than the real thing"

Incidentally; it's actually Sir Fred Goodwin. He was knighted in 2004 for...wait for it...services to the banking industry. I think that says it all really.

Tango!

2009-02-24T15:25:00.003Z

I've always wanted to dance the tango. No, not always, only since I've had my leg amputated.

When I had both my legs I suppose, like everyone, else I took it for granted. I used to hate running and would always end up a sweaty mess on the verge of vomiting; and this was during my time in the Army! I was also shit at most sports, much as I love football, rugby and cricket, I was always the kid that ended up as the goalkeeper, or the fielder as far away from the wicket as possible.

Since losing my leg my perspective has changed. In my dreams at night I can run, but I haven't ran since 14th November 1992. Now I look enviously at people running the marathon or seeing Lance Armstrong's legs pumping as he cycles up the horrifically steep Col D'Isere on the Tour De France. I get annoyed at my children when they say they "can't be bothered" to go to Rugby or Tae Kwon Do lessons; I think to myself "if only I had the chance" but bite my tongue so as to avoid the guilt trip.

It was the film "Tango" that almost made me cry; the passion of the dancers, the angry beauty of their bodies swirling faster as they moved, throwing each other with precision around the dance floor, expressionless with either love or hate, I couldn't tell which, legs intertwined, holding, both of them covered in a film of sweat; exertion, desire....

If only I could; I would dance, or even run, and I would never, ever stop. I have never watched the film again.

Ode To George Galloway.

2009-02-18T10:21:00.005Z

I used to think that George Galloway was an arse of the first order.

Every time his name was mentioned I'd see him sitting next to Saddam Hussein and saying the murdering bastard was "misunderstood", then there was celebrity Big Brother where he pranced about in a red leotard and pretended to be a ...........er........... cat. So far so stupid. Just another British dickwipe of an MP talking revolution whilst wearing a hand-made suit and smoking a cuban cigar.

The thing is the media love him. Purely because he makes himself a target and in trying to get his "message " across it seems as if there is no such thing as "bad publicity" for Mr Galloway. And we have to remember that the things he says are not what the powers-that-be want you to hear and therefore the authorities "spin machine" goes into overdrive to shoot him down- its no wonder I used to think he was an arse of the first order (Big Brother aside).

But now I've started watching PressTV on Sky channel 515 ( http://www.presstv.ir/ ) which is an Iranian news channel, and yes there is "some" pro-Iranian bias but try watching Fox for Christ's sake. George Galloway has a program called "Comment"; a live phone in show on current affairs. Having listened to him I've realised that he is a highly intelligent man who does actually know what is going on and at the same time can debate his point of view excellently, and his point of view is pure common sense, taking a global view on the things that should matter to us all. George Galloway has organised an Aid Convoy (£1 million worth of aid, 110 vehicles and currently a mile long) to drive from the UK to Gaza, bringing everything from Fire Engines to a Fishing Boat. Did you hear about that on the BBC? No, thought not!

The convoy left on February14th and can be followed at http://www.vivapalastina.org/ , donations are welcomed and will go towards buying more food on the way..

Who Ate all the Pies???

2009-02-14T13:07:00.005Z

Yesterday I had an appointment with my prosthetist at the local Hospital; the prosthetist is the guy who makes and fits artificial limbs. I hate going there and its usually only when my artificial leg has reached its "point of no return"; in other words when its totally knackered. It knackers often, I like to think I'm quite active and my leg ( the artificial one) goes all the way up to my hip as I have a right leg above knee amputation.

Recently though the nice man has been pulling out all the stops for me including getting a new knee joint that is usually reserved for ex-soldiers injured in Iraq/Afghanistan, the leg is so good the amputee squaddies stay in service. Mine had to be paid for by the NHS though, and not the deep pockets of the MOD. He also did my spare leg plus a new socket and told me the knee costs £1200- fucking hell £1200 for a leg I'll only use when my super-sturdy made-for-combat leg breaks ...which is highly unlikely.

So he (the NHS) has spent a shitload of money to enable me to walk comfortably and volunteer for a tour of Afghanistan if I wanted (I don't. I'm joking) so he has every right to tell me I need to lose weight. Although I'm 6ft tall and (I think) about 14 stone.

"-about a stone" He says.
"Lose a stone? if i wanted to be insulted I'd have stayed at home!" I reply.
We both get weighed and it turns out that I am in fact 15 stone, and he is slightly embarassed at being 17 stone. The lard-ass.

This is fine in itself but I also have a slipped disc (L3-L4) caused by........ mopping the floor. Yeah, I know, very rock'n'roll. I have acupuncture for the slipped disc and spend every day in a bit of a co-codamol induced fog, which is marginally better than the agony of my back. The way I walk effects my back, and my back effects (or is it affects) the way I walk- catch 22. And he tells me to start doing some exercise!!

"You have to be careful, its very easy to end up in a wheelchair"

...Oh shit! I'll walk home then.

Apologies...

2009-02-09T11:57:00.002Z

Apologies for the advertising on this page. I've tried to do the website and the blog without really annoying adverts, but I guess we're all slaves to the corporate machine....make sure you click on them though. Ha Ha!

Gone to the Dogs.

2009-02-09T10:43:00.005Z

I was on Facebook the other day (yes, I have too much time on my hands) and determined to show some kind of meagre support for the British workers on strike in Lincolnshire, joined a group called "British jobs for British Workers". I continued to look around similar sites over the next day or so and realised that at the bottom of a lot of pages were videos from the BNP. How is it that everything gets hijacked by right wingers? It really pisses me off and its probably the reason that Union Jack and St George flag aren't flown with the pride that every other flag of the world is. I'm not a pro-British idealist or anything and don't think that my country is "Great" in any way I just think we should be proud of who we are.

Maybe its because of the last Christ-knows how many years of Labour government, who have meandered through everything in a half-arsed way, bringing in laws for the sake of it and at the same time eroding personal freedoms; Health and Safety, no smoking, CCTV cameras, speed cameras, don't do this and don't say that. That is why at some point there will be a backlash, people are already sick of it and that's why the BNP are sneaking in under the radar.

BNP "Putting Londoners First"...as long as you're not

black, brown, chinese, irish , eastern european, etc...

The country is bankrupt, Pubs (a social meeting point for local communities) are closing at the rate of five a day, High streets are full of empty shops, the ones that are open are pound and charity shops, unemployment rises, flats are built and stand empty because no one can get a mortgage and everyone works longer hours because they don't want to be the ones who are made redundant first. In the meantime we send our soldiers to die in wars that aren't ours and the government spends millions on its new "Get Fit 4 Life" campaign.

Where are our priorities? When is it going to get better?

Something has to change, I just hope to God it isn't the BNP who get a chance to change things..

Go On Then...

2009-02-06T14:16:00.001Z

I've spent the last few days wondering what the "focus" of my blog should be about. Do I write about the day to day occurances in the Hutt house; full of wacky adventures and witty observations about the family? Or do I make the blog a serious piece of journalism? Laying into everything from corporate greed to the pointlessness of the UN as a political arena.

Its all a bit shit really. I'm not a journalist and refuse to pick up a random article form the news and tell the world my opinions about it, just for the sake of it and to fill a bit of "blogspace". And as for writing about my family, my wife would kill me, and as everyone who has a family knows day to day life is a routine of just about managing to cope with our four children (yes four!).

So what do I write about? Well, me I suppose. Write for the sake of writing. Since finishing my book last year I have realised there is a void where writing used to be. I enjoyed writing; putting thoughts and feelings into words; making them solid and real instead of fleeting and unreachable. And maybe others, if they want to, can read, think about and even comment on.

Hey, I'm enjoying this and I think I'm in danger of "peaking to soon".....so until next time

www.simonhutt.homestead.com

heading hest

2009-01-31T08:46:00.001Z

test

www.simonhutt.homestead.com

oooh everybody listen to me!!!

2009-01-28T12:12:00.000Z

Hey first time blogger here!
I have a website www.simonhutt.homestead.com and will be linking this all together....

when i get the hang of it....