As many of us have a fair selection of favourite blogs to visit daily/weekly/whenever, I’d like to highlight one post from a long-time favourite, it’s run by a lady who lives in, and posts from, a narrowboat on England’s waterway network. Seems as though they passed by a boulder-strewn field adjacent to a canal lock-site. Intrigued, she checked around by Google, and came up with the rather startling news that it was indeed not a stone-age burial site but instead a Rugby Borough Council-approved, co-ordinated and supplied picnic site.

As one can see by a very close inspection of the layout, the larger boulders in the centre are the ‘Tables’ and the smaller boulders/stones sited around are the ‘seats’ and what puzzles me is who the Council expects to come anywhere near this shambles in order to relax/eat/fornicate or any other social activity.

 This high-tech rubbish placement cost some £50,000.00 of Rugby Council Taxpayers’ hard-earned cash, and I wonder if any Rugby residents have queried if they have received value for money! As can be seen by a quick view of the appropriate Council documentation, it does seem as if the the Council are pleased, but then it’s not their cash which is being spent.

On this date, two years ago, militant Islam struck in London, murdering dozens of innocent people.  Jihad was on our streets.

I see that the occasion has been marked with a ceremony at a memorial garden to the victims. Prime Minister Gordon Brown, London mayor Ken Livingstone and Olympics and London Minister Tessa Jowell joined relatives at King’s Cross Station.

But what exactly have these politicians gathered to remember? It can’t be the real menace that the Islamic Jihadists represent since Livingstone sympathises with suicide bombers and NuLabour stood by whilst the Jihadists plotted against us and did nothing in their multiculti stupor. It can’t be the need to go on the offensive against the Jihadists since they all committed to something called "community cohesion" which means permanent kid gloves time. In fact watching these political fools standing at such a solemn event, I wonder did they think anything at all? 

Islam’s war on the United Kingdom was manifest on 7/7 for all who wanted to see. Since that date, and remembering what almost happened last weekend, Islam remains a real and present danger. And yet, from where I stand, most of the British political class seek to avoid the harsh truth that Islam appears to be our deadly enemy seeking new ways to bring carnage onto our streets. There will be more days like 7/7 until we wake up to the fact that Islam and our western democracies are not compatible.

To parents, the loss of a child must be so traumatic as to induce a state of mind which allows truly foolish statements to be made without prior reference to their intellects and brains. The alternative, that the foolish statements were made whilst in full possession of their faculties is, unfortunately, more often the case.

This last was what the parents of six-year old Kane Small did, further encouraging him to borrow a friend’s motor mini-bike and career around a track in a nature reserve as his own had been sold “due to the rising costs of using track facilities”. Unfortunately, the six-year old child lost control and crashed into a tree, dying in hospital from his injuries.

But what do the “grieving parents” call for? Some sense? Some forgiveness for what should really be called culpable manslaughter? An acceptance by their family and friends that the father and mother of little Kane were just plain ignorant of their responsibilities as parents? No way! They called for more mini-motor cycle tracks to be built by councils, or Lottery funding so that “ordinary people can take their children to use their motorbikes in a safe and supervised place”

And these people are actually allowed to look after children?

When asked to describe the mood of the country, the top six adjectives chosen were: disenchanted, uncertain, disappointed, indifferent, confused and angry.

These are the unsurprising findings of a national research project conducted by media advertising group McCann Erickson in Marketing magazine (examining what this means for brands – so you can take it this research was thorough!).  In contrast to the sense of national optimism that characterised the late-90s eg the new government, Britpop, Britart, Cool Britannia and despite of todays strong economy, "a sense of disillusion permeates the nation" today. There is frustration at the nanny state, mounting concern surrounding national issues such as race relations, immigration and terrorism – and most of all a growing frustration at a lack of British identity. 

83% of respondents agreed that ‘people seem generally angrier nowadays’."When asked what causes this fury, the reason most cited was race relations (accompanied by a picture of a girl in a niqab), an issue that has grown in importance since the turn of the millennium". This finding is supported by Ipsos-MORI, which found that 37% of Britons believe immigration and race relations are among the top issues facing the country, up from just 3% in 1997. "Yet there is a disconnect between perception and reality" the report concludes. One of its most profound findings is that people’s views of the state of the nation do not match their views of their own lives. When asked, 60% said they were positive about their current mood. Bobby Duffy, deputy managing director of Ipsos-MORI’s Social Research Institute looked at the findings and contrasted them: ‘Ask people about Britain and they are pessimistic; ask about themselves and they’re optimistic" this is the exact opposite to how it was under Margaret Thatcher" .

What makes you angry about Britain? 58% of respondents said race relations. Second was crime (52%), followed by terrorism (49%) and the cost of living (47%). The war in Iraq came eighth.  Debt was mentioned in the qualitative research as was the inability to get on the housing ladder.

When asked what makes them sad about Britain, ‘loss of respect in society’ was mentioned by 64% of respondents – well ahead of issues such as war (46%) and debt (33%).

72% of respondents believing that ‘Britain is more unstable now than it was at the start of the 21st century’

53% of respondents agreed with the statement ‘I don’t know what it means to be British’. These feelings were strongest among Britons in the lowest social demographic.

67% believe the new millenium has been a disappointment for Britain so far and, bizarrely in my opinion (since I do not share the view that this is even the governments job) –  78% believe ‘that the government is not doing a good enough job of making people feel better’.

Their conclusion for brands was that building an emotional attachment with consumers will win out. The top five names representing ‘stability’ (eg brands we would miss if we left) were Heinz, Marmite, McVities, Bisto and Hovis…fwiw.

source – paid link which wont work for you – article: "Fear and Loathing in Browns Britain", Marketing magazine. "Angry and confused in 2007, Britain is a pessimistic place to be".

No, this is not about the UK’s ill-fated Eurovision Song Contest entry by Scootch, good as it was! (Not) It’s about PM Gordon Brown’s alleged new found pride in the Union Flag. He who would seek to play down his overt Scottishness declares…

The Union Flag is one of the most recognisable symbols in the world," he said in his first Commons statement as Prime Minister. "In other countries it is regarded as a source of pride."

His pledge to abolish restrictions on flying the flag as part of a package of measures designed to create a "new consensus, a more effective democracy and a stronger sense of shared national purpose".

Looking forward to seeing the Union Flag flown from every Government building here in Northern Ireland for 365 days a year. Cheers Gordon – a great boost so close to the 12th July. Lovin’ ya! 

Listening to the reports of the possible flood damage resulting from the damage to this reservoir in Yorkshire. The person interviewed had been knocked up at 03.00 a.m. by the police, and advised to evacuate immediately, He was speaking from a school hall some five miles from his village, and the interviewer asked if there had been anything which really stuck in his memory.

The resident replied that he had lived thirty-six years in the village, and this was the first time anything out-of-the-ordinary had happened; BUT I THOUGHT HE WAS ABOUT TO SAY THAT WAS THE FIRST TIME HE’S SEE THE POLICE IN ALL OF THAT TIME!!

THIS is genuine:

Prisoners released early to ease overcrowding in jails will get up to £172 compensation for loss of bed and board, the government said. Some 25,500 inmates are expected to be released up to 18 days early and will receive payments totalling £4.5m.

This centres on a lawyer called Lord Falconer. He’s the Lord Chancellor and, since May, Secretary of State for Justice. He’s never been elected to any public office, but he’s an old mate of Blair’s. Falconer is in the process of releasing 25,500 prisoners early because this government doesn’t believe in punishment and hasn’t built enough prison places to accommodate Britain’s growing prison population.

The administration and governence of modern Britain is a daily example of human insanity. Rarely do public servants act in our name without offending simple decency and common sense. It’s not enough to take our money and waste it in as many ways as they can dream up. No, to work in government today demands insulting the people you are supposed to serve. 

Given then that releasing prisoners early is merely ludicrous, something else had to be done, something to really stick it to the millions who keep you in a job. So the Ministry of Justice, a recent government creation, has declared that those prisoners released early will now be given our money to compensate them for the loss of the ‘bed and board’ they would have had if they weren’t released early. As I said, this is genuine.

The latest wheeze in John Reid’s fight against terror, organised crime and drug peddling is unveiled in Manchester today. No, you aren’t seeing things, it isn’t an updated ‘Dalek’, it isn’t something out of the ‘Secret PoliceMan’s Ball’, it’s SuperCop on his plastic three-wheeler, fighting for truth, justice and the singular British determination to look like a right ‘wanker’.                                                            

The philosophy behind my headline, by the way, should be clear by now; Crime Rates will fall dramatically as the crimininals will be laughing so hard they’ll be easy meat for the ‘Boys on the Blues and Three’s’!

One point which is cleared up; that’s the question of what the consultants employed by the Home Office have come up with! All is now revealed! 

I read that the planned expansion plans for an elderly couple in King’s Lynn have been placed on indefinite hold due to the intervention of one Rachel Barrett, a ‘wldlife advisor’ with Natural England (N.E.) another of the interminable NGO’s which have morphed into existence to ensure that we don’t all scratch our arses at the same time!

Seems as thought Charlotte and Brian Paton did something extremely foolish, they told Natural England that their loft plans might upset some bloody bats, and N.E., of course, sprang into action and placed a ‘stop’ order on the building plans indefinitely!

My advice to the Patons is very simple. They should immediately buy or procure a heay-duty camera flashlight, one which gains it’s ‘flash’ voltage by the battery charging up a capacitor. The capacitor then discharges into the lamp, giving off the intended ‘flash’ for the photograph. But instead of taking a picture, the Patons should just set the flash into the roof space where these dirty, foul, disease-ridden vermin are roosting, and continually fire off the flash. As it is the ultrasonic noise generated by the capacitor’s charge which sends the bloody bats into a race for the nearest exit, rather than the light, their problem would be solved in a matter of hours. They can then tell their contractor to proceed, as they no longer have bat infestation, and as such no longer need to comply with yet another totally stupid and ridiculous regulation, allegedly brought in to ‘protect’ vermin!