Just off the BBC. Asked Minister Attwood the simple question; “What is the average BAC of those killed in drunk driving incidents.” This is directly pertinent to the issue under debate. He would not answer me – even with a convenient “news break” to help. He was given 10 minutes air-time, I got 2 minutes. Tell you what, Alex, if I were you I would sack your SPADS, they don’t anticipate even basic questions The answer, by the way, is 160mg/100mls or .16 BAC or TWICE the current limit. Reducing the current limit does NOTHING to stop these lunatics but the very brave and courageous Alex knows best…..

Here’s a sobering insight into the state of the Irish ec0nomy;

“Up to eight out of every 10 applications for a mortgage are being turned down.

The lack of lending is one of the main reasons the property market continues to crash, economists have said. A survey of mortgage brokers, who are members of the Professional Insurance Brokers Association (PIBA), found that the situation is worse than it was last year for people seeking home loans.

A majority of brokers reported that between six and eight out of every 10 mortgage applications were declined in the second quarter of this year, PIBA’s survey found.

The main reason that applications are being refused is because of concerns over job security.

Lenders are turning down potential new buyers because the applicant has not been in current employment for sufficient time or their employment is a fixed contract rather than permanent.”

This failure to lend can be seen as lenders being prudent but it undoubtedly must have an impact on the property Market, the construction Trade and all affiliated service sectors. The Irish economy has so many structural stresses within it and you have to feel sorry for anyone seeking to get on with their lives. Of course with the circus for the role of Irish President filling the media headlines, I wonder will this even be noticed?

Let’s start with a quote from the great man, Plato.

“Democracy passes into despotism.”

So, how are his 21st century fellow Greeks getting on in that former cradle of civilisation?  Well, they are out there on the streets protesting, rioting, threatening to hang the Prime Minister.

Why? Because Greece decided to try and join a currency union that would lend it €€€billions in exchange for it broadly accepting the fiscal prudence and rigour of Germany. It had no intention whatsoever of ever doing this, of course, and whilst it spent like money was going out of fashion, it turns out that it is Greece that is going out of fashion as the prospect of Sovereign Default looms closer day by day.

The EU pipers now call the tune in Greece and demand all sorts of cuts and austerity. Yesterday, the Greek Parliament voted for a new and controversial new property tax bill, first announced earlier this month, that aims to boost revenues. Anyone who does not pay the new tax risks having their power cut off. The lights are literally going out across Greece and we may not see them on again in our lifetime. Still, the sun shines quite a lot.

The Greek State, encouraged by the EU, is threatening its people with all sorts of punishment. The total state of detachment between the politicians and the people is there for all who have eyes to see.  And in a sense this is the fulfilment of the European ideal - central planners telling puppet Parliaments what they must do. Greece is gone so far that it cannot be saved. It must leave the EU and look forward to a century of continued decay and demographic death. But what happens in Greece today will transfer to all those OTHER EU Nations that thought there was such a thing as a free lunch. There never is. The price for Euro-roubles was Euro-despotism and I am sure had you been in Athens last night, you would be under no illusions. You can have freedom or you can have the Euro.

I’m writing this just before I go on the Nolan Show to discuss the Drink-Drive legislation issue with the Minister, Alex Attwood. I’ve been thinking about the more general issues involved however. When you really think about it, all Attwood is doing is imposing EU legislation upon us. The limits he seeks to establish are those directed by Brussels. There is nothing new in what he is trying to do other than following the EU manual. So, in essence he is little more than a devolved shill for what the EU decides is best for us.

However the EU is relentless in seeking to control our lives, just consider this;

The European Union plans to enforce a mandatory 20mph speed limit in residential zones and replace the Highway Code with European Law. It doesn’t stop there. Other ideas include standardised road signs across the EU, harmonised road worthiness standards for cars, a common drink-driving limit and a standard ‘highway code’ for all member states.

I am sure that Komissar Attwood and his associates will be salivating at the prospect of enforcing the will of Brussels. But why should free British citizens accept all of this? The EU is lurching into Eurogeddon and yet it is seeking to enhance its control all the time. Remarkable.

So, how is the Religion of Peace getting on in Switzerland? Well, they have a problem; Can you guess what it might be?

“The Swiss Cross should be abolished. This is being demanded by the Immigrant Association Secondos Plus. “The Swiss Flag has nothing to do with today’s, multicultural Switzerland any more.” Do you understand?” Said Petrusic its representative.  The Cross has a Christian back ground. The Christian origins of Switzerland validates that it is respected, “only the separation of Church and State is also valid with regard to this flag”, insisted a representative of Secondos Plus. “It is a given, therefore, that we have great religious and cultural diversity in Switzerland.”

Here’s a better suggestion. If these Islamists feel so unhappy with the Cross on the Swiss Flag, why not move to somewhere with that Crescent you so like?

I know, it’s not the sort of title one wants to read given not so distant history. But relax, it’s not THAT kind of war, not yet.

Andreas Vosskuhle, head of the German constitutional court, said politicians do not have the legal authority to sign away the birthright of the German people without their explicit consent.

As a matter of fact, I appreciate the manner of a man who speaks exactly as he finds!

Should be 0n the BBC Nolan Show tomorrow morning, all things being equal, to debate the draconian proposal from Minister Alex Attwood to further reduce the amount of alcohol a person can have in their system whilst driving. Here are some key thoughts;

1. Attwood is doing this to bring NI into line with EU legislation, plain and simple. It would also harmonise NI law on this issue with that of the Republic whilst separating it from the rest of the UK. I’m sure Nationalist Mr Attwood will not miss the constitutional significance of that. Nor did I. At a time when Euroland is in crisis, his enthusiasm for Euro-legislating is touching. The rest of the UK is keeping current limits. Are we saying that they do not care about road deaths resulting from drinking alcohol?

2. On the FACTS, as opposed to the emotions, can someone please explain to me how many of the 75 deaths attributed to drink drivers over the past 5 years were caused by those having between 50ml-79mg/1oom ml of blood? If there is a causal link, I am interested. If not, then on what basis is this lowering proposed? I know that groups like the BMA and NICE support this reduction but it’s interesting to read their repeated use of the word “may” in their recommendations. They don’t seem to avoid “may not”.

3. This legislation will criminalise a whole new group of people. Suppose you go out for a meal of an evening. You do not drive because there is a nominated driver.  You have a couple of glasses of wine with a meal and that is it. Next day, under the legislation proposed, the Police randomly stop you as you drive to work. (In itself this is a further advance of State power and removal of individual liberty). You show that you have 5omg/100ml blood in your system. You’re nicked, pal – off to jail with you. Suppose you just stay at home one evening and have a few bottles of beer. Next day – your blood levels are still raised. You’r nicked, if caught for the sin of drinking at home. So the only way to prevent such an outcome is stop drinking entirely. First they came for the smokers, and now they are coming for the  drinkers. It’s what Nanny State does, it’s all the NI Executive is capable of doing.

4. WHY should the PSNI be granted the right to stop any citizen who is driving in a lawful and careful manner? Is Stop and Search law OK when it comes to drivers but not thugs on the street? I seem to recall the SDLP opposing this sort of draconian resort when it was employed against street crime, but is it now OK when applied to drivers?

5. I understand 40% of all drink-driving accidents involve those people 40% OVER the 80mg/100ml limit. How are these culprits affected by this new draconian law? They’re  not. So, the worst offenders carry on regardless. Speed cameras do not catch these fools, so we would do better to have more proactive traffic policing specifically targeting  erratic driving.

6. How many accidents are caused by people using their mobile phones? How many accidents are caused by people out of their heads on drugs? Howe many accidents are caused by plain carelessness? Shall we ban the use of mobile phones – hand-free or otherwise? Shall we introduce a law to stop people listening to music whilst they drive as some allege that causes distraction?

7. Haven’t Attwood other things to be doing rather than increasing the power of the State, strengthening the power of the State Agencies, criminalising an entire class of people whose sin may be to have a glass of wine with their meal AT HOME? That’s a rhetorical question.

It was George Orwell who coined the phrase “Four legs good, two legs bad” back in Animal Farm days. Who would have thought that the new Labour leader (and winner of the Ray Romano look-a-like competition) “Red” Ed Miliband would use that as the basis for his economic policy?

You see Red Ed thinks that there are “good” companies and “bad” companies. The good guys are  ”genuine” wealth creators – who, he will say, should be championed and encouraged – and the bad guys are the  ”asset-stripping predators”.

Just a few points on this;

1. Who decides if a company falls into the good or bad category?

2. What criteria apply in evaluating these companies for what could be punitive categorisation?

3. How can a different tax regime be applied to one group of companies and not to another? What is “good” companies go bad? Or vice versa?

For someone with such a strict Marxist background as Miliband, it may seem natural to want to categorise private business and then attach punitive taxation to those deemed unworthy. However given his total failure to get to grips with the bloated unproductive State sector, I suppose it is natural that he focuses on the sector that creates wealth as the real enemy.

Remember your schooldays? Ever spell a word wrongly? Be thankful you didn’t attend a strict Muslim school.

It may have been a mere misplaced dot that led to accusations of blasphemy against a Christian eighth-grader, whose miniscule error led to her expulsion from school and uproar amongst local religious leaders.

Faryal Bhatti, a student at the Sir Syed Girls High School in Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) colony Havelian, erroneously misspelt a word in an Urdu exam while answering a question on a poem written in praise of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). The word in question was ‘laanat’ instead of ‘naat’ – an easy error for a child to make, as the written versions of the words are similar.

According to the school administration and religious leaders who took great exception to the hapless student’s mistake, the error is ‘serious’ enough to fall within the realm of blasphemy.

On Thursday, Faryal’s Urdu teacher was collecting the answer sheets from her students when she noticed the apparently offensive word on her pupil’s sheet. The teacher, Fareeda Bibi, reportedly summoned the Christian girl, scolded her and beat her. Her punishment, however, did not end here. When Faryal’s class fellows learnt of the alleged blasphemy, the teacher brought the principal’s notice to the matter, who further informed the school management.

In the meanwhile, the news spread throughout the colony. The next day, male students of the POF colony school as well as certain religious elements took out a rally, demanding the registration of a criminal case against the eighth-grader and her expulsion from the area.

Having been expelled from this school for her crime, her father must now worry about her getting raped.

The fanaticism is staggering and yet most of this passes by the MSM without comment. For this young Christian student to be persecuted in such a way is an outrage. Were a Muslim student in a Christian school to be treated in such a way there would be an international outcry. In this case all we get is silence from the MSM, from Amnesty, from all those ever so concerned Internationalists.