Harriet Harperson bites back!

She looks stunned and stupified here. Whatever she may say, The Sun's belated divorce from New Labour has stung her. And I'm not sorry really. She's a woman who believes in equality on her terms. Equality to get the best expenses, equality to get the best schools for her children, all that kind of equality. Hypocrisy is a word that comes to mind.

What is the point of New Labour now?

Gordon Brown has given a conference speech that went down well with the apparatchiks, not so well with the old school rank-and-file and it gave The Sun its final nail in the coffin. They just need to find a good hammer to drive them home!

Last night Newsnight showed Jeremy Paxman wandering around the conference enquiring about the purpose of New Labour. He found a votes office with nothing much to do, a number of expensive show stands conveniently paid for by willing councils and compliant unions and he sensed a rally format without much verve or nerve to rouse the crowds. Tony Blair was a man who could fill a hall on platitudes and revised beatitudes. No need for a moral compass, he had God on his side (or possibly at his side!). He had New Labour certainty which basically translated as Tony Blair certainty. Blair could easily have been the leader of the Conservative Party or the Liberal Democrats. If it had served his purpose for power, he might easily have fitted into UKIP, the SNP, or the Green Party. Blair could mould a message to suit the circumstances. But he's gone. We've got Gordon Brown now, floundering around like a beached whale. What is his purpose?

New Labour was a fiction. It still is. It doesn't stand for anything. It doesn't create policy. It hates votes, hence the sheer boredom of being in the votes office! However, it loves control, it loves manipulation, it loves messing about with things. New Labour strikes me like its a child that cannot stop fidgeting. The old adage was "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!". New Labour turns this around. They fix things or people in such a way that they end up bust, broken or bewildered.

If I were a socialist I'd be wondering what on earth the Labour Party had to offer me. As a democrat, I find their aversion to free votes baffling. If I were a trade unionist I'd be thinking about how far I could stretch loyalty and credulity. As a voter I was never conned. I knew what they were about in 1997, but have no idea now.

It seems to me that the country, as The Sun thinks, has just lost favour with the New Labour magic. The Blair pixie lost his sparkle and the Brown straw man couldn't find it. However, the Tories and Liberal Democrats are not seen as easy replacements. They will have earn their votes.

It's just that, as we approach the general election, the question as to what the point of New Labour is still remains unanswered. My guess is that many will drift away. Radicals will see the Liberal Democrats or Greens as an alternative. Those who only had cupboard love for the Blair experiment will bounce back to the Tories and other minor parties will get the intellectual socialist support.

So I've probably answered my own question. There is no point to New Labour!

Suffer little children?

Vernon Coaker, the Minister for Children, Schools and Families, has his work cut out unravelling the law after the New Labour knee-jerk Childcare Act 2006 gave another fright to people. Everything this government does is well-intentioned it seems, but with added doses of control freakery and self-preservation. In response to the two policewomen who found themselves entangled in New Labour legalisms, he repeats the mantra that they (the government) wish "to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all children". If only that were so. I fear he left out the first three prerequisites - avoid being sued, cover up your mistakes and get as many people into the data net as possible.

In this particular case, it strikes me as being absurd that "interpretation" of the law is so badly handled. Did it never occur to these New Labour apparatchiks to ask simple questions like how would Ofsted interpret this law if implemented. Obviously not. Nobody spotted the glaring misjudgement of it all. To suggest that "reward" in such cases means something akin to running a childminder's outfit is plainly daft. And it is also plainly daft to suggest that uncles and aunts are any less likely to be a perverted danger to children than a work colleague that is "trusted implicitly". In fact, the opposite is statistically true.

Leanne Shepherd, one of the police officers, said, of the visit by an Ofsted inspector, "I was shocked when she told me I was breaking the law." Just like most other people in the country. But every New Labour law on social interaction needs to be gone over with a fine toothcomb. Leave nothing to chance. Control freakery gets the better of them everytime. Common sense goes out the window.

And children get to suffer in the long run!

Back from the swine flu brink!

I have no real knowledge of what I have just had. It could be swine flu or it could be seasonal flu. In my case maybe Early Autumn Flu. I've still got that nagging phlegm that lingers afterwards, but I've not got that awful achy headache.

It was suggested I went to the doctor but I felt too wretched to get out of bed. Yesterday a retired doctor told me, "They don't want you anyway. Cluttering up the waiting room. And likely to infect others!" "With underlying health problems", I helpfully added.

So I've weathered the thing without Tamiflu or Tammy Wynette. Viruses are funny things. Not quite alive but not quite dead. In a sort of no-mans-land of their own. We only know a fraction of what there is to know about them, apparently. They replicate, they mutate, they change appearance like Tommy Cooper's hat routine. And they scare the living daylights out of the New Labour lot.

Swine Flu is what we call it. The Dutch call it Mexican Flu. Nobody calls it Mexican Swine Flu and it's the Mexican swine that got the blame for it. I've seen a horse sneeze, and a dog, a cat, even a cow, but I've never seen a pig sneeze. Whatever I've had it was just a bit different from the last bout. And hysteria was certainly not a contributing factor!

Down with the dreaded......

I've got something or other today. Probably what the Chief Medical Officer calls "seasonal flu". I don't feel so good, so won't be getting too worked up about the world and its problems. A bit of coughing and spluttering and taking various cures. I'll see what tomorrow brings!

Margaret Hodge back in government

Lady Hodge, aka Mrs Margaret Hodge, is back in government as Minister for Culture and Tourism after a period of compassionate leave. Before she's got any culture to celebrate or time to greet any tourists, she will be on permanent leave!

Sub-continental circumcision row!

This is a crazy world indeed. We are fighting a war in Afghanistan, euphemistically called a campaign by the government, and we are told categorically that the enemy is a terrorist organisation hell bent on exporting its beastliness to the streets of London and other western capitals.

Unfortunately, the people we are trying to help by extending democracy and civilisation as we know it do not know who the enemy is. Much debate is currently taking place on Pakistani internet forums about who is exactly who in terrorist circles. It has been "documented" that some Taliban fighters were not Muslims but Indians or other such. Uncircumcised males have been spotted in the numbers of corpses. So that concludes the Indians are up to their tricks. But hold on a minute, some people, like the Times of India are keen to point out this is not proof at all. "Pak blame fails Waziristan circumcision test!" trumpets this article. I like the term "Pak". Try using that in the Times of London! Many Waziris are so poor they can't afford to travel to a hospital or get a barber (ouch!) to do the operation for their boys.

So we don't really know who is who unless we get these Taliban types to drop their trousers! Maybe this is what General Stanley McChrystal should be doing if he wants to succeed in turning away from a "likely result in failure"?

http://www.pakdef.info/forum/showthread.php?t=9570&page=77

http://forum.pakistanidefence.com/index.php?showtopic=83146

Bob the Builder does it better!

Now Bob the Builder's a nice guy. He's always trying to help people. Could you imagine Bob on the fiddle? Not likely. But the big builders of Britain are or have been. They've been caught out rigging bids for contracts. The Office of Fair Trading has fined 103 of them the princely sum of £129.5 million. Are they sorry? Are they heck!

All involved seem to think it is something that happened and it's time to move on. The guy from the OFT this morning on the Today programme wouldn't agree with Justin Webb that they were crooks. All the spokespeople put up by the trade are just unmoved by the whole thing except to emphasise that some of those companies fined could be laying people off as a consequence. A kind of "now look what you've done" to the OFT.

I wonder sometimes what the difference is between corporate Britain and criminal Britain. If a thief was up before a judge on a thieving spree he'd done three years ago and he said to the judge, "That was then, your honour, when I stole them things, but I'm now reformed and put a stringent code of practice into place!" "How do you plead?" "Sort of guilty, sort of sorry, and it wasn't me the last time!" "I take that as a guilty plea".

It's a bit like that with the builders and the OFT!

John Prescott and the Beanstalk!

Pantomime Land? Well John Prescott's well and truly strutting the stage with his one-man fantasy that Gordon Brown is a Giant! Prescott has said the prime minister is a "global giant" who can win the next election. He said "everybody" outside the UK believed Gordon Brown had "turned this global economy round" and dismissed his opposition rivals as "pygmies".

Everybody? That's including the camp known as "the jungle" outside Calais, I suppose. They know a "global giant" when they see one. It's all a load of twaddle. To think that this is the stuff of high level politics.

Come to think of it, if Brown has done so well in turning this global economy round, he did it without the help of tax evading bankers. The Panorama programme tonight shows just what a bind he really is in. Caught in the headlights of a runaway bank juggernaut with the headlights searing into his brain.

If he's such a giant, he must have done his stopping around with velvet slippers on his feet.

Stormy Daniels is most talked about candidate

Stormy Daniels is not the shy retiring type. Neither is she a hypocrite. She's bare-faced in your face about her past, unlike her opponents who are not. According to Lanny Keller of the 2The Advocate.com, "many more people have been talking about Stormy Daniels than Charlie Melancon (her opponent). That’s been nothing but good advertising for the, ahem, small businesswoman thinking about moving from cinematic sin into politics".

I'd say that Stormy's chances will be that much more enhanced if she keeps to the straight and narrow in her political quest. That is tell it as it is. No more pork barrelling, no more baloney. Meanwhile David Vitter is reported to be adopting the tortoise approach to politics. That's a wise move. He'll need that hard shell. Taking the role of the hare could just get him jugged in this contest!

Postal Picks Today

These are my Monday morning POSTAL PICKS -

Iain Dale reveals that President Sarkozy is bouncing Czechs. That's typical in the EU where finances are all over the place!

Alastair Campbell has been patched up again. He loves NHS Walk-in Centres. I wonder how much he's had spent on him to keep him "young, and full of athletic and sporting potential"?

The Anger of A Quiet Man is bubbling up nicely and it hears, feels and smells elephants in the room. Large mammals that "Call Me Dave" Cameron will have to coax out into the open. And with more than currant buns!

Constantly Furious is still furious today and is exploding over the government's biking banality. On your bike, he trumpets!

Dick Puddlecote can't understand why Labour needs an industrial earth-mover to keep digging that big hole of theirs!

Nick Clegg plays Robin Hood today

Some say the party conference season is just like a series of pantomimes. Well, if that is so, the Liberal Democrats are putting on Robin Hood with Nick Clegg in the starring role as Robin of Locksley himself. Vince Cable, as Friar Tuck, is the Treasury spokesman of the LibDems. He is all for a 0.5% annual levy on the most expensive homes in Britain, raising £1 billion in extra tax. This would apply to the extra value over the £1 million mark. Are there that many million-pound mansions in the country? The Lib Dems say about 250,000 property-owners would pay about £4,000 a year each on average mostly in the South-East of England. The tax would be based on Land Registry valuations. That includes quite a few properties worth considerably more that £1 million.

Nick Clegg says, "I think people, even at the top end, now accept we need to try and rebalance things a bit so that everyone moves together - the whole of society moves together. This is a small correction which I think will make a big difference for people who are really struggling to make ends meet." I am all for helping people out but "rebalancing a bit" is surely not going to help matters much in the struggle to pay back our National Debt.

He says the reason for the new tax was "fairness" and rebalancing "one of the most unfair tax systems around". Granted, but we need a powerful hedgecutter to trim things back, not a puny pair of secateurs!

VAT will have to go up. Bank bonuses will have to be curtailed. Corporation tax will have to go up. Public spending will have to be seriously reduced. It will hurt, but this is the time to take off the rose-tinted specs and get a pair of glasses that gives us 20/20 vision!

Don't pet the petting ponies please!

We have seen four petting farms closed down in as many weeks. These are wonderful places generally where children as well as adults can touch animals who are deemed tame enough not to bite back or get pissed off with people. Animals can carry bacteria and germs. So can humans for that matter. A microbiologist, Professor Hugh Pennington, has said that children under five were "most likely to touch the animals" and "the most difficult part of the population to get to wash their hands". That may well be so. I note he implies there are other parts of the population!

This outbreak of E.coli has all led to the idea that the animals are to blame. I'd say it was the humans. As a country we have some filthy habits. I know that I can go into a public convenience in any town and see men walking out without washing their hands. We know it goes on. We've all seen it. One has to wonder where they were when they were under five? Probably not being told of hygiene by their advanced non-handwashing parents.

And it's not just confined to public conveniences. I've witnessed many people avoiding the "handwashing stations" in hospitals. Most of the time I just hope my natural immune system won't let me down.

Professor Ron Cutler, who is an expert on infectious diseases at Queen Mary University of London, says more is needed to be done to enable children to keep visiting petting farms and zoos. Quite so. He thinks operators should think about giving visitors nail brushes to clean their hands after touching animals. "We have to put some sort of logical controls in."

Like a sheep dip?

Death Row show in Ohio

Being the only western democracy in the world gassing, electrocuting or lethally injecting convicted prisoners, the United States is facing an uphill struggle to maintain this form of justice. Partly this is due to growing revulsion by Americans themselves, but also because the various states that implement such a policy appear ever more cackhanded in carrying it out.

Ohio has just had the most horrendous experience in trying to put a prisoner to death. Two hours it took for doctors to try to find what is euphemistically called a healthy vein. Can you imagine it? The warden pacing up and down, the doctors beginning to sweat, and the prisoners's heart pumping blood for all it was worth. Now I know this sort of treatment pleases the neocons and the bible-bashing brigade. They love the old eye-for-an-eye stuff. Makes them feel better. They are the same tumbrille types that draw pictures of Obama with a Hitler moustache. They are not about to decry a death row inmate getting two hours of pre-death vein searching. No way.

It puzzles me. The Third Reich had no problems finding veins. Now they were the real Nazis. Yet the treatment meted out in Ohio to Romell Broom is not even what one would expect for stray dogs. Are we so desensitised to human life that some humans get to become less than human. How long did those peering through the glass window as witnesses stay? The full two hours? As this guy's lawyers say, it is inhumane. Who can claim to be able to label Obama a nazi?

Broom may be what Lindi St Clair calls "rubbish people". He is a convicted rapist and murderer. We are not told what sort of character he is now. He has been in jail on Death Row for 25 years! In Britain, assuming he had been reformed, he would at least be up for parole. I'm not in the business of namby-pamby sentencing, but neither am I a supporter of this kind of death sentencing. It has no merit as a deterrent and it is totally un-Christian in its administration. The Department of Corrections appear to correct very few.

As a Conservative I want to conserve that which is worth conserving for everyone's benefit. Only the ranters and ravers purporting to be conservatives seem totally at ease with this punishment.

Simon Cowell strictly against a ratings war

Simon Cowell has come out to say that he does not think that the BBC is doing a good thing by placing Strictly Come Dancing up against his X Factor show. This is not about sour grapes, it is just that Simon thinks that licence fee payers could enjoy both shows. He's a fan of Strictly so he's not grinding an axe here. Sounds all very plausible.

However, I sense he's got a bit of an ITV feather protruding from his impresario's hat. He is asking ITV to shift X Factor. Now there was a time when ITV, in the form of Granada, LWT or Thames Television, would relish the thought of humbling the BBC in a ratings war. Not anymore. Now we live in a recession, where TV advertisers are keen to see guaranteed audiences. With so much other than terrestrial television for people to watch, ITV is getting currant buns instead of a slice of the cake. It stands to reason advertisers want to keep ITV programmes in front of as many of the dwindling number of viewers as they can.

The BBC is not phased, though. They blame Merlin for the timing of Strictly. Simon Cowell and ITV may need their own wizard to conjure up a few tricks if they are to combat BBC spin!

Postal Picks Today

Today's POSTAL PICKS -

Tory Bear asks how low Alistair Campbell will fall. In his loathing of the Tories probably as far as Hell itself. The journey back could be frightening!

James Cleverley rather cleverly juxtaposes the upbeat feeling of young people in London with the notion that "too many young Londoners still have a tough time".

The Monarchist reminds us of the Siege of Toulon. I must read more, my history is failing me!

The Red Rag has a fascinating picture of Baroness Scotland seemingly about to swipe a red poppy from a bespectacled man's face.

Wonko's World has a piece on Mandelson. Wonko thinks he's incompetent. He is that! Impotent as well in a manner of speaking.

Miss Whiplash turns to God!

For one who believes in redemptive possibilties for the human condition, it is indeed satisfying to hear of Lindi St.Claire's revilatised life following a severe traffic accident.

No longer with bouffant hair or overdone make-up, Lindi is now a reformed character. "I have lived a bad life," she says, "I was vindictive and spiteful and I have been to prison. But now, it is the total opposite."

Well, it's always good to hear of lost sheep returning to the fold. After all, a shepherd goes out to find the one that is missing, rather than be fixated with the 99 already in the pen. However she ends her comments in traditional style by saying "I have always met rubbish people - now I'd like someone nice in my life." There's the challenge Lindi - you don't need to like "rubbish people" but you've got to try to love them!

Susan Boyle's got American talent too!

Looks like Susan Boyle will confound Andy Warhol's theory. Her 15-minute of fame is likely to be 15 years or more after this performance!

Postal Picks Today

Today's POSTAL PICKS -

A Very British Dude asks if the criticism of Barack Obama is racist.

Heresy Corner is seething with impotent rage. I see his point. Any memory of Fat Bob Maxwell at the very least saddens the heart!

Damian Thompson lets his views be known on the "stealth priestesses" and suggests they might make a good fist of being something else. In 15-20 years they will have found a new home in an Episcopal communion modelled on the American Episcopal Church (TEC).

Freethinker thinks the Indonesian laws allowing stoning of adulterers and caning of gays are a matter of concern. But you don't have to be an atheist to think freely about this, surely?

Tim Worstall highlights the madness of it all. Just look at this example!

Patient Foster went to Gloucester!

Andy Burnham has come up with a good wheeze. Patient choice. That is he wants us all to have the ability to choose the doctor's surgery that we want. So do the Tories, who are keen to tell us they thought of it first. Sounds good in principle but there's bound to be a catch. I can think of three to start with. First, some doctors are just better at the bedside manner than others. Grouchy types may find patients have left en masse. Now that may be an incentive for all to become more patient friendly, but a bedside manner is not the first requirement in patient care.

The second is what happens on referral to consultants. If you've decided to travel 60 miles to see a doctor because that particular doctor is the best you think you know, where will you be referred if you need an operation. And thirdly, for children and those who work away from home the choice is not about one doctor but the chance to register with two, which is not allowed at present.

As with a lot of things it sounds good on first hearing. Chat about it a bit more and you find it's not so simple. I'm reminded of a family holiday to a boarding house in the wilds of western Scotland in the Sixties. A Yorkshireman and his wife were in the same establishment. He had decided he was unhappy with the food on offer - basically what you saw is what you got. One evening he leant over from his table and whispered, knowingly, to my father, "I've been down t'other 'otel 'an they've got menya cards!" Needless to say it caused a stir in the dining room and the proprietress was at a loss as to know why.

I'd suggest that Andy Burnham makes sure his menu cards don't have too much choice on them otherwise we could all get an unhealthy dose of indigestion!

Peter, Paul and no more Mary

Mary Travers, the female vocalist of the hit folk trio Peter Paul and Mary, has died. For anyone in the Sixties theirs was familiar music. It still is today, but probably sung by others. They gave a sense of respectable rebellion to all teenagers forming their opinion on life. I didn't know anyone who disliked their music. It came at a time when pirate radio, folk protest songs and a general anti-establishment air was uppermost in young minds. Even for conservatives a touch of radicalism penetrated the soul. The BBC were at their best in the Sixties for live studio music and that's what BBC2 did and did well with Peter Paul and Mary.

The trio got a mention in that great film Meet The Parents when Greg and Jack make a trip to the Oyster Bay Drug and Sundry. Discussion centred around puffing the magic dragon. Now I kind of fell into the Jack Burns theory, but I know boys at school thought like Greg!

Peter Paul and Mary sounded good then and I still think they sound good now. Goodbye Mary.



And here's a BBC clip -

Gordon Brown told such Dreadful Lies!

MR. 9.3%

What a liar!

Gordon Brown told such Dreadful Lies,
It made one Gasp and Stretch one's Eyes!

Has Mr.Brown ever read Hilaire Belloc's famous poem?

What other fibs and fables should we know about?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/6197185/David-Cameron-attacks-Gordon-Browns-cover-up-over-10-per-cent-cuts.html

Postal Picks Today

Today's POSTAL PICKS -

Ruth Gledhill for revealing that Tony Blair has had a Coke moment. "He's the real thing!", gushes his spiritual mentor, the Rev Peter Thompson. Diversity saviour indeed!

Archbishop Cranmer comments on the present Archbishop of Canterbury's sadness at the lack of remorse in the City of London over financial greed. Perhaps a quiet chat with the priestly gentleman leading HSBC might not go amiss?

An Englishman's Castle pays tribute to a man who could have drunk his cellars dry - Keith Floyd!

The Knight Shift reckons the hue and cry over Marcus the Lamb is a manifestation of crazed adult animal rightists.

Daily Liberty Press bemoans the fact the the American media largely ignored the Tea Party Taxpayer March. They need a second revolution, they really do!

Ofcom gets tough on cell phone cowboys

I wonder why it has taken Ofcom so long to realise that the best scam in town is flogging a mobile phone contract. On Ofcom's website today is the stark message "Mobile service providers and retailers engaging in dishonest, misleading or deceptive conduct could be fined under new Ofcom rules that come into force today." Well, don't hang about, get your lassos out and rein in these cowboys.

This is a business that can sell a service that is never guaranteed to work, where outages are the "responsibility" of the customer and where contracts are "sold" as if it is mere advice. Whilst the mobile phone industry is now vital to the smooth running of modern life, it is also vital to remove the gadflies and gannets that have come to feed off the fortunes.

'Pretty' prison officer wins case

Tut, tut! The Prison Service has been caught out in a discrimination case. This time it's about age and sex. Of course, they are upset. "The Prison Service takes all allegations of sexual harassment very seriously," says a spokesman, adding that the Prison Service said it was "disappointed" by the tribunal's findings and said it would study them "carefully". But no apology or a simple "sorry"? Not in today's world. That would be too much.

The prison officer concerned is 22 year old Amitjo Kajla. She only wanted to "try to uphold the HMPS purpose statement, which clearly states that their duty is to 'look after prisoners with humanity' and I sought to apply that in my work by treating prisoners with respect. However, one officer didn't like my way of working, which was counter to the macho approach he favoured." Now there's the real problem for the HMPS. Still too many macho guys strutting around. Shouting abuse at anyone has long since proved to be a waste of time.

The Prison Service should have taken Will Hay's sentiments to heart, when he told his inmates in Convict 99, "These prison walls are not to keep you in. They're to keep the riff-raff out!"

Postal Picks Today

Today's POSTAL PICKS -

Letters From A Tory for pointing out the undemocratic nature of the TUC and their BNP obsessions.

Daniel Hannan has revealed the bleeding obvious - that No free-marketeer thinks that money is the sole measure of happiness - a fact lost on so many lefties!

Political Betting asks if Mandy is now the de facto Prime Minister? He's de something, that's for sure.

Terrible Tory Girl thinks that it is just not justice to demote little Alan Duncan. Don't worry, he'll be back!

Working Class Tory feels we are all condemned to be labelled fascists by the left if we protest in a politically incorrect way. It takes one to know one, as the fascist UAF have shown.

Sexual abuse amidst a confused society?

Last night Ed Balls came on the television, blinking like a rabbit in a searchlight beam, to suggest that maybe the government hadn't quite got it right over the vetting and barring scheme. Of course, it wasn't much to do with Ed Balls, it was up to the new quango and its quartermaster to sort out. But I got the distinct feeling that Balls had sensed potential electoral trouble, so his antennae were in overdrive.

Now I read that there has been a case of sexual abuse in a Nottinghamshire children's nursery. The Rocking Horse Nursery in Plumtree has been closed after it was revealed three toddlers had "unexplained" injuries, including a broken leg. What is interesting is that a Child Abuse Investigation Unit spokesman has said, "This is a new line of inquiry from information given to detectives last week. Prior to this neither Nottinghamshire police nor Ofsted were aware of any alleged sexual offences having taken place at the nursery."

Not aware? No, there were not. But why on earth would they. Unless someone says something, nothing would be done. If a burglar robbed a person, but the victim decided to stay silent, how would the police find out? By telepathy? This is the whole flaw in the new Independent Safeguarding Authority's side. Only convicted sex offenders and those given a caution or who are "known" will be flagged up. But certainly not those who are unknown to the police. I assume all at this nursery have been vetted, all have had CRB checks. If something has occurred, then someone got through, didn't they?

Instead of this multi-million pound quango spending its day vetting and barring, the government should do two things. Set up a research unit into the actual manifestation of paedophilia. It is no good talking as if every day is going to start with a bad apple check, like a fruiterer diving into a box of apples. Either paedophilia is an illness or it is a depravity on the sexual proclivities scale. Those with the condition need to be monitored or cured. If it is a condition, then babies born today will have in their number a few paedophiles waiting to grow in adulthood. If it is obtained from nurture, let us find ways to stop the nurturing in the first place.

If it was left to the Sun newspaper, Ian Huntley would have been castrated, hanged, drawn and quartered in Soham town centre. Left to the government, he is in jail and we are lumbered with a quango. Noboby seems to want to find a cure to this problem. Maybe they are too frightened that if a cure to paedophilia is found, then that could be applied to other conditions that some find offensive.

The second thing the government should do is to give social services and education authorities better guidance in ascertaining who is vulnerable from potential abuse or who may become an abuser. Whilst I am distinctly against a nosey-parker society, I firmly believe we should not sit back if we see or hear unsavoury things happening. If there has been abuse in this nursery, you can bet that someone knew about it but felt they couldn't say anything. That feeling of inadequacy must not continue.

We can only really help children and vulnerable adults if we become more caring rather than more scaring.

Weasel wordsmith Mandelson!

Listening to Lord Mandelson on the Today Programme one wonders if he believes the British public will be conned by his slippery ways. He uses the mantra "wise spenders, not big spenders", and goes on to denounce the Tories by wildly fantasising on what a Conservative government would do. All fantasy. He suggests Conservatives will introduced private health, cut costs like some crazed hedge-cutter on speed, and generally spite the poor.

If anyone has done these things or attempted to do these things then it is the mortgage-fiddling Mandelson and his New Labour government. If we believe him, we are fools indeed!

Postal Picks Today

Today's POSTAL PICKS -

Letters From A Tory for writing to David Cameron about bad brews in the economy and seeking his opinions.

Sharpe's Opinion takes up the ISA issue and highlights some interesting views.

Labour Bollocks asks if Gordon Brown will be on the paedo database. After seeing those photos I sincerely hope he will be!

Douglas Carswell asks if the Foreign Office is the worst quango of all. Now don't all rush to comment - form an orderly queue.

Mark Reckons that campaigning against the ISA will not be easy. Dragging the weasel words from their mouths comes to mind.

Other Forces have us all as potential paedophiles

New Labour has been keen to extend the remit of Other Forces. These are the shadowy elements of the state, some working in quangos, some wandering the streets with beady eyes. New Labour trust none but their own.

We are all now potential paedophiles. But some potential paedophiles are more dangerous than others. Whilst the New Labour state sees fit to set up another quango that gets all the opportunity to let the Other Forces loose on our lives, this quango only does a particular job. The quango in question is the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA). It will oversee checks on adults who work with children and vulnerable people. But not all adults in this position. That's the crazy part of it all.

The quango is headed by Sir Roger Singleton. He will become Nosey-Parker-in-Chief of the New Labour regime. This will not be about the interests of children. Far from it. Sir Roger's main aim will be to have authority to safeguard the interests of the government. After all, it wasn't a parent taking kids to a football match that was the problem. It was the Other Forces lamentably failing in their duty of care to keep Ian Huntley (a convicted felon) off the streets in the first place.

All involved in the Huntley case were a shameful bunch. There is only one way to keep known and convicted paedophiles away from children. Monitoring them. However, potential paedophiles (those with lusty ideas but not known to the Other Forces) are of no use whatsoever to the ISA. Unless of course we are all going to spend a day in some cell having our innermost thoughts, fantasies and desires beaten out of us.

Sir Roger tells us all to calm down, as if he feels an eSure moment coming on. Consider the issue "rationally" he opines. Well I have, and I don't like it Roger! You are going to become a highly paid snooper.

Let's consider the workings of the ISA. Anyone taking part in activities involving "frequent" or "intensive" contact with children or vulnerable adults three times in a month, every month, or once overnight, must register with the ISA. So that includes slumber parties, all activity regarding clubs and social events. Children will be monitored, parents will be monitored, social club officials will be monitored. Sir Roger wants information. Who will be telling on whom?

All this information gathered will be shared and passed around, thereby ensuring the tittle-tattle mill gathers momentum. We are told by Sir Roger that this is not about "informal arrangements between parents" but about formal arrangements. Come off it, the difference is Humpty Dumpty language. I would hope there was some formality in any arrangement I make concerning my children! But if you are playing that game, all that parents need do is to create "informal arrangements". Clubs and groups will keep out of it and parents will create their own arrangements. The law here is an ass indeed.

An insiduous aside from Sir Roger came when he said "It is about ensuring that those people who have already been dismissed by their employers for inappropriate behaviour with children do not simply up sticks and move elsewhere in the country to continue their abuse". What does he mean by this? Surely this is about criminal records? No, it is not. You see the Other Forces will be using all sorts of material gathered in. What is inappropriate behaviour in the eyes of "an employer"? If Sir Roger is relying on tittle-tattle and not the guilty outcome of a court case, then we all have something to be concerned about.

I think we should be watching Sir Roger Singleton as much as he is watching us!


PS. Other Forces is a term used by Sir Roger!

Kevin Hoeffer go away!

Kevin, old boy! Can you get yourself and your pesky message out from under my computer keyboard? Your gravelly voice is hard on those little speakers I've got!

Southend Council talks garbage!

Isn't it the case - one idiotic council official keeping the flag flying for all the other idiotic council officials. It's a bit like passing the baton in a relay race. The latest council official to wave the flag around is Simon Crowther, who descibes himself as Group Manager for Waste at Southend Council. Mr.Crowther knows a backsliding council taxpayer when he sees one. Or rather, when he hears of one. Mr. Crowther is not really interested in facts. He's more into form-filling and getting stooges to knock on doors with asinine questions in hand.

Mark Howard runs a bicycle shop in Southend. He recycles all his spare parts and stores surplus materials such as cardboard boxes and old pedals away for re-use, while bent steel or aluminium frames that can't be salvaged are sold for scrap. So, because Mr. Howard is a model recycler with no wastage, he gets a visit from the council. They cannot believe he doesn't have any waste. Mr. Howard said, "An officer came round but he didn't look round or ask any questions. He just handed me another letter which said I must pay a fixed penalty. They didn't give me a chance to show them what I do - which is better than the council contractor's service because their waste goes to landfill." The council's contractors are Cory, who get £80 for five bagfulls of rubbish. Incentive indeed. Mr.Crowther basically doesn't believe Mr.Howard. He says, "Mr Howard is required under the Environmental (Duty of Care) Regulations 1991 to produce evidence as to how he legally and lawfully disposes of commercial waste under his control. Mr Howard has been issued with a fixed-penalty fine due to the fact he failed to provide this evidence."

Come off it, Mr.Crowther. Your man failed to ascertain the facts, came back to you with some tale and Mr.Howard gets slapped with a fine. Nice work if you can get it, I suppose. All that Southend Council will get out of this is one, to look petty-minded and vindictive and two, to face an unnecessary court case.

What an idiot!

Bin Laden been dead for seven years?

The Daily Mail asks the question as to whether the rich boy turned cave-dwelling terrorist is actually dead. They think he might have gone to his Maker seven years ago. A book called Osama Bin Laden: Dead or Alive? is out now. Written by political analyst and philosopher Professor David Ray Griffin, former emeritus professor at California's Claremont School of Theology, it is provoking shock waves - for it goes into far more detail about his supposed death and suggests there has been a cover-up by the West. Another Senate hearing for the truth?

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1212851/Has-Osama-Bin-Laden-dead-seven-years--U-S-Britain-covering-continue-war-terror.html#ixzz0QuG1p3RA

Street fighting in Harrow

It seems to me that the English Defence League as they call themselves are no more than a rabble. Their central point may have some validity, that it is not right for people to come out on the streets to jeer at the bodies of returning soldiers or to stand on street corners preaching hate. However, any coherent message they may have is totally lost when about 50 shaven-headed protesters see fit to taunt and bait Muslims en masse outside a mosque. That is rather like pouring oil on troubled waters, or more likely high octane petrol.



I checked out the English Defence League. Their website has a forum. When I clicked on they had a Google ad for the "International Muslim Matrimonial Site!". A smiling girl in a hijab appears. Apparently you can "Browse Photos Now!".

So all's well in love and war, is it?

Postal Picks Today

Today's POSTAL PICKS -

Ruth Gledhill highlights the Archbishop of Canterbury's lament at the loss of Christian knowledge in Britain today.

John Redwood comments on the £50 billion plan of the joint Taxpayer Alliance/Institute of Directors initiative for cutting public spending, or public waste.

Nadine Dorries asks if the world has gone mad? The UN guidelines on sex education for five-year olds leaves one wondering.

Dizzy Thinks he has spotted an answer to cokeheads and their toilet cubicle activities.

Devil's Kitchen reveals the unhappy security detail that befell an EU-enthusiast in Brussels!


That's my pick for today.

Rover update

More on the Phoenix Four from the BBC. They shouldn't be linked with a phoenix. Instead of rising from the ashes they are responsible for the demise, although they will have to be dragged trough a hedge backwards before they admit to that. A vulture is a more appropriate bird for them to be linked with.

Lord Mandelson seems genuinely aggrieved. He has criticised the men for not showing "an ounce of humility" and has called on them to apologise. He may have a long wait!

Rover bosses took £42m from firm

What's that saying? Oh yes, "Rats desert a sinking ship". That's the one. Well the Rats of Rover have been truly fingered as dubious and double-dealing types. A report into the Rover collapse is now out. Robert Peston sums it up quite well by saying it was a "humiliating 800-page catalogue of how they enriched themselves while the last UK-owned mass market motor manufacturer hurtled towards insolvency". Greedy buggers!

The Phoenix Four may well think they were "flabbergasted" to be in the Serious Fraud Office's sights but they must have been the only ones. I think it is a crying shame they got to the teflon spray before the SFO could stop them.

"You Lie!" taunt backfires against Congressman Wilson

Representative Joe Wilson has just experienced that defining moment in politics. One significant second when it all goes pear-shaped. Ted Kennedy had it at Chappaquiddick. Michael Heseltine had it when he unfortunately had a heart attack and looked weak and frail on TV pictures. Kennedy's was much of his own making, Heseltine's was not.



Joe Wilson is feverishly against Obama's health care reforms. One wonders why? He no doubt has his reasons. America is a nation divided. The haves and the have nots. When President Obama made his speech, Wilson shouted "You lie!" and pointed his finger at the Commander-in-Chief. This was over the statement that illegal immigrants would not be covered under the plans. Wilson thought the President would grant citizenship to the illegals thereby giving them coverage. I know it's easy to shout out when politically riled. I've done it myself. But there is a time and place for heckling and hecklers should know that it works both ways. You either get people onside and back your point or you get booed off stage. Wilson is getting the booing treatment.

I would have hoped that the 21st Century would have put paid to politicians who are working for themselves and their cronies rather than the people. Wilson's challenger in his district is Democrat Rob Miller. Miller raised $100,000 overnight from 3,000 individual donors after Wilson's dig at President Obama during his address to Congress on Wednesday night.

That shows some indignation. Even an apology is not enough, it seems. Wilson is learning the lesson that politics is a fragile business. A bit like butterflies in the summer sun. A sudden squall knocks them down and they are left fluttering on the ground.

PS. This is interesting too I think! "Joe Wilson: Healthcare Hypocrite"

Glenn Beck's democracy? It stinks!

Glenn Beck is an odd cove. He describes himself as a conservative and a libertarian. I'm thinking he is more a dogmatist and an illiberal. Not a very nice customer. He has taken some Americans by storm for being "conservative" and an attack dog against Obama liberalism. Beck is the kind of character who rabble-rouses in the pub. He's a modern day Archie Bunker without the common man's touch.

A mild-mannered professor by the name of Cass Sunstein has been nominated to lead the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. Beck is apparently beside himself because Mr. Sunstein wrote something on animal cruelty once and Beck is all for guns and shooting animals (rather like Sarah Palin is). Now I'm not against hunting, shooting or fishing. Proper sports they are. But when it comes to giving guns to swivel-eyed potshotters like Beck I seriously doubt the sanity of it all.

Beck is hardly a suitable man to be in charge of a gun. His sobriety tests have in the past been a dismal failure, he is apparently an Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder sufferer, not his fault, I grant you, but something that should warn us that he can fly off the handle. I suppose his Fox News appearances would not be affected by any of this. A good rant goes down well on that station. But is he seriously the right guy to be pontificating on Barack Obama's choice of appointee? This is all muck-raking just to prove a point.

Beck has apparently Twitted the internet for his adorable fans to go digging up the dirt on this man Sunstein. Do Americans think this a right and proper form of democratic freedom? I sincerely hope not. Beck is described as being a recovering alcoholic. It is a pity he is not a recovering citizen too!

Simon Cowell before he was famous!

Here is Simon Cowell on Sale of the Century. Was this the last time he wore a suit and tie in public? YouTube embedding is "disabled by request". Who requested that I wonder?

And Simon Cowell has a new lady in his Idol life. Ellen de Generes is going to be a judge on American Idol. Standby for American Public Opinion to be split down the middle!

Clerical muddles

In a web surfing frenzy, I've come across the Episcopal Diocese of New York's website. In their "Forms of Clerical Address" page they get one thing right! Episcopalians are told - "It is incorrect to say, for example, “the Reverend Smith.” It is correct to say “the Reverend William C. Smith.” Absolutely so. Hollywood should be told.

I once heard of a Father Christmas. Seeing that this diocese is uber-liberal in most ways, I wonder if there is a Mother Goose in the clerical listings?

Toffee-nosed Peter Hain in BNP disdain!

Peter Hain is the arch hypocrite. A man of self-serving self-righteousness, who demands that the electorate obeys his whims and fancies rather than thinking for themselves. As the BBC contemplates having a BNP presence on Question Time, Hain is in apoplectic fit mode. He is beginning to rant.

“I was horrified when I heard about this, because it makes them (the BNP) appear as if they are another political party sitting on a panel along with democratically-elected parties.” So Nick Griffin was not democratically elected? Was he shoe-horned in by a bevvy of sly operators all keen to see British democracy destroyed? Of course not. It's Hain's fantasyland, that's what!

If Peter Hain is too chicken to debate with the BNP, let somebody else do it. New Labour is the biggest recruiting agent for the nationalist agenda, so by just ducking out, Hain scores an own goal before the match has even started. Anyway, is Hain a loss to the debate? I hardly think so. He's probably more scared of Griffin picking through his expenses and his deputy leadership contest coffers.

Democracy? Not if you let Peter Hain control it. Free speech? Not if you let Peter Hain control it. What a pompous oaf!

Postal Picks Today

Here are my POSTAL PICKS today -

Achbishop Cranmer for highlighting the anti-democratic nature of the Europhiles of Ireland.

Letters From A Tory emphatically says "No" to prisoners blogging. Could allow a lot of blagging on the net!

Stephen Fry on his love of conkers.

Man In A Shed looks out to comment on the BBC's licence fee plight.

And Guido Fawkes has a shocked looking Malcolm Rifkind in his sights. You may be shocked too after reading what's been revealed!

Airbus A380 in Birmingham

It landed with great grace! The Emirates Airbus came to Birmingham.

BBC in word play scam!

The BBC gives me the impression that they are "leaders" in the way English words and phrases are used. It was the BBC that led the way in imposing a new name for Bombay on us, whilst steadfastly refusing to do the same with European cities. The corporation has a distinct power in the land when it comes to the way we speak. Although it is not down to them alone, there are other contributors, it seems that the BBC is at the heart of it. They took to speaking only in meters. Woe betide anyone who dares to say feet for a measurement. They will be upbraided, often on screen.

Now the BBC is stubbornly using "gender" instead of "sex". Sometimes it sounds too stupid for words. The thought of athletes having "gender tests" renders the language a fortune to hostage as far as the politically correct brigade are concerned. This is not about pronunciation, or bad grammar as such. Rather it is the insiduous elevation by a thought police of a control system. At one time such behaviour would be countered. Now it seems we don't have the stomach to resist.

Stoke City councillor joins Libertarian Party

POSTAL PICK

From “Looking For A Voice” - Cllr Gavin Webb -Stoke City Council joins the LPUK

Iraqi shoe-tosser to get hero's welcome!

So much for George Bush's abilities in the Middle East as a bringer of peace and democracy. The Iraqi people seem to be far more taken with the political stance taken by Muntazer al-Zaidi, shoe tosser extraordinaire. His day job is being a journalist. He's going to be hailed from Baghdad to the rest of the world. Offerings of a new house, a herd of goats, even a new wife are coming his way.

The Americans still have their work cut out. This episode just about sums up how wrong Bush was and how little he knew about Arabs!

Birmingham Airport greets big plane

Birmingham Airport is celebrating 70 years in the aviation business. Starting out as Elmdon Airport, it has grown to be a entry and exit point for many of Midlanders and their friends, relations and business partners. Today the world's largest commercial airliner is set to touch down at BHX. It will be a momentous occasion, not least for those on board. With a relatively short runway, stomachs could feel they were going in their own direction!

It will be the first time an Airbus A380 has landed in passenger service anywhere in the UK, other than London's Heathrow Airport. Emirates is certainly offering us an opprtunity to see the world. Only recently I spoke to an Australian who thought it so much better to be able to fly into Birmingham rather than be offloaded at Heathrow. Word gets around, if slowly, and has reached her travel agent in Sydney. But if he hadn't known, then she wouldn't have known. The more people know, the less likely BAA's expansion fantasies at Heathrow will materialise into fact.

I welcome this landing as it proves to us that London is necessarily the centre of the aviation universe!

More terror plots likely

The New York Times is in a quandary. They are trying to answer this question - "Does the United States need a large and growing ground force in Afghanistan to prevent another major terrorist attack on American soil?" - and they don't seem any nearer the answer.

The trouble is that the powers-that-be have completely muddled up the Taliban with al-Queda. It is rather like linking Hitler's Lebensraum with Mussolini's prancing fascism. Mussolini was only tenously linked to the Nazi war effort. The British described the Italians as being "co-belligerents" as if they could be conveniently unhitched from Hitler's bandwagon without too much trouble. "Let the Eyeties sort it out after the war" seemed to be the slapdash approach.

Similarly the Muslim fighting forces that are the Taliban and al Queda have very different agendas. If I live to be 1000 I doubt very much if I will be bothered by a Taliban bomber in Solihull. al-Queda is another matter. But they are not in Afghanistan, but in that terrorist haven that is Pakistan. Trouble is that Pakistan is a former British colony and loads of Pakistanis live in Britain. Whereas the Afghan Taliban gets shot at for causing an anti-democratic regime to have been created (and for wanting it back!), the Pakistani al-Queda groups just get a wigging from half-hearted Pakistani generals (always with one eye open for a possible coup in Islamabad).

It would be totally inappropriate to invade Pakistan and root out the real terrorists, wouldn't it? Expensive trials that have convicted demonic would-be bombers have proved the point. Not one Afghan has been lifted by the Metropolitan police for being a terrorist in action.

So what are we doing in Afghanistan? It appears we are hopelessly inadequate when it comes to checking up on the democratic process. Ballot stuffing under our noses! We are woefuly inadequate in destroying the poppy crops, so the cocaine trade carries on as usual and we have not found a single al-Queda terrorist in Kabul or the whole of Afghanistan. The Taliban may be a cruel and crazed mob, but they are just that and keep to the hills. It is the terrorists in Pakistan, linked to the "home-grown" bomb plotters that we have to be concerned with.

So maybe the answer to the question that the New York Times poses is this. Look for the terrorists in Pakistan and not Afghanistan. Tell the Pakistani government they've got a month to clean up or they face a desert storm. That's the real answer. However, I suspect this present cloud-cuckooland battle will continue and we will all be the worse for it.

Krafty move gives Cadbury's a Quaker's quake!

Kraft Foods is eyeing up Cadbury's. They want to take over the iconic British brand. Of course, Cadbury's has not been averse to taking over foreign firms so this is just a bit of business bravado in return. Would I be bothered by it all? Maybe.

Would Kraft Foods know what makes the British palate tick? They'd have to stick with the rather sickly sweet Creme Eggs. Even a nervous shock to the back of the brain from a damaged molar will not put the average Brit off such confectionery. So the message here is "Don't muck about with the recipe!". They would also need to have an idea about the Bourneville Village Trust. Although not a Cadbury company organisation, it has a great historic link with the company. The word ethos comes to mind. Also the attraction of Cadbury World is seen as a hotspot on the visitor trail. Another matter to consider?

Kraft say they will secure jobs and enhance the brands but that was said about HP Sauce and that's no longer in Brum! A Creme Egg can be made in Bangladesh as much as it can be in Bourneville. Possibly Kraft would give Americans a big chance to savour all the Cadbury brands but in my experience only ex-pats and those with an ecclectic tongue have taken to Cadbury's overseas.

If Kraft ever did take Cadbury's over, we should be mindful as to their promise keeping abilities. Cadbury's have just said that the offer undervalues the company. They didn't say it was a preposterous idea to think that a British company could be taken over. In the world of big business sentiment has little place or value.

BNP leader Griffin to be on BBC Question Time?

I had thoughts about this when the BNP was poised to get representation in the European Parliament. Now that they have, the BBC is pondering what to do about asking Nick Griffin, the BNP leader to appear on Question time. The Labour Party has always taken a poncy approach to the BNP. It is this "smell-under-the-nose" look and self-righteous manner that has done much to embolden the BNP. New Labour is significantly worse that most in failing to address the debate. The Conservatives would appear on the programme it seems but they would need to address their current attitudes. Just slagging the BNP off will do no good whatsover. One million people are prepared to support this party in votes and a fair few more may mutter appreciative comments when confronted with political activity they dislike. How many times have I heard "I don't support the BNP but on this they've got a point!" The three main parties have, in effect, created the BNP. If they had addressed the root problems of society there would be no need for a party that can offer "I told you so" slogans as solutions.

Sleaze, corruption, banking crises, these all help to feed fear and revolt. Forget immigration as a cause. MPs themselves have given the BNP far more ammunition than a lorryload of asylum seekers ever will. I sincerely hope that Harriet Harman will divest herself of her "politically correct" hairshirt and use her inate intelligence to think a bit. Just playing to the gallery, one in which Giglamps Rentamouth from the UAF is blinking from, will not do.

However, debate is one thing - violent disruption is another. The so-called Unite Against Fascism (an odd title for a distinctly fascist outfit) is hell-bent on shutting the programme down if Griffin appears. We don't need self-appointed Taliban-lite morons strutting the streets telling us who we should vote for or not. David Cameron is still down as a supporter of this rabble-rousing outfit as are a few other Tory MPs. The Conservative Party needs to be positive in presenting policies that will create opportunity for all citizens and be bold in offering solutions that have some likelihood of succeeding. For instance, immigration must be firm and fair - the EU should not see itself as just a conduit to Dover!

I welcome the chance for the three main parties to debate with Griffin. He appears ready for it - are they?

Sex and the teacher!

What is it with us Anglo-Saxons. We have a rather unhealthy attitude to matters sexual it seems. Seeing as we all owe our very existence to sexual activity we seem to think that the body is a temple for the devil most times rather than being one for the Holy Spirit. Now there is a time and place for everything and it is seen by most people that sexual activity is a private matter. It is also one of total naturalness. However, it is also something for the exploiters to get involved with.

Today I heard that teachers are complaining about the new code of practice set up by the quango calling itself the General Teaching Council for England. This outfit has deemed it necessary to introduce a code. In part it says that teachers should ‘Maintain reasonable standards in their own behaviour that enable them to maintain an effective learning environment and also to uphold public trust and confidence in the profession.’ Some think this is a catchall clause to encourage snoopers. GTC Chief Executive Keith Bartley says teachers have nothing to fear. In response this is claimed. "The Code does not intrude into teachers’ private lives in the way that some have alleged. Personal misconduct outside school would only be drawn to the GTC’s attention if the alleged behaviour were serious enough to warrant dismissal. Provided behaviour is legal and private, this is a matter for individuals but the GTC will assess any behaviour that may damage the ability of the individual to fulfil their role because it has become public." Weasel words I'd say. "Assess any behaviour"? What is Mr.Bartley thinking of? Any person could take umbrage at a teacher's behaviour. "I saw Mr.Jones skinny-dipping!" or "I saw Mrs.Wright completely drunk at my neighbour's wedding". Such innuedo could well keep Mr.Bartley and his penpushers up all night.

Why we need such a code is bewildering indeed. Surely headteachers are the ones to weed out the wrong people. But that's during working hours. What a teacher does privately is nothing whatsoever to do with these New Labour snooper-types, unless it is criminal activity.

In Florida a teacher, Tiffany Shepherd, got fired from her job as a biology teacher because she posed for racy photos that appeared on the internet. What happened to her? She's ended up as a porn actress because nobody would hire her as a teacher. Now she could have done something else, but probably sees this as some kind of public payback plus an opportunity to make easy money. Was she a good biology teacher? I have no way of knowing but I bet that wasn't a priority for those who fired her. Have any of those involved in firing her been up to anything we should know about? In all these cases a certain degree of hypocrisy enters the arena. I'm all for decency and proper standards but that's for those around us to be vigilant. We should not afraid to speak up about our friends and family's behaviour if we are concerned. If we all acted a little more neighbourly we would not need pointy-headed bureaucrats cobbling together codes of practice.

So Tiffany Shepherd goes from teacher to floozy (her own description) for posing in bikini pics. Hardly that provocative, but I'm not a quango type. Now she's being manipulated by a seedy gent and his wife. "I told her, use ‘em before they fall to the ground. But God, does she need to work on her acting!" Biology's loss is pornography's gain. Some code, some practice!

SkyEurope airline goes bust

It's a hard life flying planes in a global recession. You can weather a storm, go through lightning, or even land on the Hudson River, but you can't fligh through a wall of bankers however hard you try. Of course it isn't just the bankers giving the airlines a hard time. The flying public can be very capricious when it comes to airline loyalty. The airlines have cut ticket prices so low that they are relying on funnelling the tax monies through bank accounts to make up some extra revenue. The latest casualty is SkyEurope.

SkyEurope probably had two problems. Not so many Eastern Europeans flying west and not enough Western Europeans taking advantage of holidaying in countries like Slovakia. When one hears the BBC continuing to talk of holidays in the UK being better value than the eurozone it only partly tells the story. Slovakia offers fantastic value holidays but that's generally lost on the British public. Slovakia's restaurants provide good meals for a fiver!

There's only so much to go around, I suppose. I get the impression that western capitalism is some kind of giant merry-go-round, with loads of loosely fitting horses. Every so often one shoots off into the crowd, getting broken in the process. Eventually the man in charge gets a new horse fitted, but it hasn't completely stopped his merry-go-round in the meantime.

So SkyEurope is the latest casualty to hit the decks. But it won't put the dampeners on the industry. Even as I type there are those with ambition and bully for them. Birmingham European Airways is hoping to launch one day, so the aviation merry-go-round at least is happy in the fairground of financial fortune.