What's the difference?

Q. What's the difference between an MFI flatpack wardrobe, without the adhesive... and Charles Kennedy?

A. One's a glueless kit....

Sleepin' in the woods by a fire in the night, drinkin' white rum in a Portugal bar....

Yes, tomorrow, the family Piper will be heading of to Lagos in Potugal for the annual bookfest and steady intake of alcohol that is otherwise known as a holiday. This could be the last time... (as Mick and Keef once wrote), because eldest one is off to Liverpool University in September, and you never know what happens after that.  The brother-in-law has packed his cases and is coming up to stay in our house in sunny Sandwell... I'll think of him (but not often, I suspect...) oh, and if you're reading this mate, mow that spare patch of grass outside we call 'the lawn'.

I think I'm going to be sick. There can be few more disgusting stories in the news than this.  At least (I assume) they will not be pursuing Paddy Malloy's family with an invoice for his porridge whilst he was being tortured and abused at Her Majesty's pleasure. These people were held hostage in degrading and inhuman conditions for 18 years by the British Government. Those responsible should be begging for forgiveness on bended knees instead of behaving in this way. Whatever next... perhaps Bush could charge Cuban holiday rates to those imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay, and the people who kept Terry Waite chained to a radiator in Beirut for nearly five years should pursue the Archbishop of Canterbury for the outstanding board and lodging fees. Have we all gone bloody mad?

Rise like lions after slumber

Paul Foot's funeral today, this report via The Guardian.

Snigger

I know you've all probably read this at bloggerheads, but for those who haven't, this from b3ta made me laugh.

The BBC website points out that there is absolutely no connection between John Prescott officially running the country while Tone slums it at Cliff's gaff, and the Government decision to issue a leaflet advising people how to cope with disaster.

On a more serious note, Prezza could spend sometime on the day job. George Monbiot makes a compelling argument for a sensible transport policy. The figure of 3,500 people killed on the road is about the number who perished in the World Trade Centre on September 11th, although they attract less media attention, and re-occur year-on-year, ... but there's not much likelihood of a government in this country doing anything about it.

Driven mad

There was a time, before bus deregulation, that Sheffield had a public transport system that other cities used to look up to. Now, we've got this shambles!  I don't suppose in all the lovey-dovey exchanges between Ministers and Trade Union leaders at Warwick University they gave any serious thought to achieving an integrated transport system by bringing the busses back into public ownership... and I strongly suspect there was no bucket collection organised for the Sheffield bus drivers either.

As easy it was to tell black from white, it was all that easy to tell wrong from right.

A couple of interesting articles I picked up on this week over at ZNet. Apparently John Kerry has discovered the strength of the black vote in the US, having got the message that in the crucial Florida election in 2000, "95,000 African-American votes were dumped in the Florida swamps, marked as spoiled."

Writing in The Guardian, Michael Meacher (the latest of the ex-Blair Cabinet to rediscover his radicalism only after he stopped struggling up the greasy pole) asks some pertinent questions about Dubya's favourite Military leader, Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan, and the links to TWAT (The War on Terrorism).

If there was a socialist honours system, instead of the current elitist nonsense, the ever brilliant Steve Bell would be high on my list of nominees.

90% of white people have no black friends apparently. I make no apologies for referring you again to this hysterical site dedicated to a couple that have lots.

BykerSink is on the move

Those of you who regularly follow the comments in this blog, and many others, will be familiar with the socialist PR man from the North East (no, I don't mean Peter Mandelson) BykerSink, whose blogsite Its Wrong to Wish on Space Hardware is consistently provocative, occasionally very personal, and always excellent reading. Well, after months of prolonged agony, Byker has finally got his VSO appointment and he's off to Vietnam. He will carry on posting on Space Hardware, but because of the political content of many of the posts, and the sensitive political nature of his VSO position and the Vietnamese government, Byker is starting up a new blog detailing his Vietnam experiences at Our Man in Hanoi. If you haven't already done so, link to the new site and keep a dialogue going when Byker moves on September 3rd... we don't want the lad getting lonely now, do we.

The stars are beginning to hide

The WMD argument rapidly descended into farce as it became obvious to everyone that the reason Scott Ritter and Hans Blix had such doubts was because Hussein did not actually possess any WMD. Determined to justify the war on humanitarian grounds, Blair shifted the emphasis to the 'hundreds of thousands" of Iraqis slaughtered and buried in mass graves, as witnessed by his special envoy, Ann Clywd who told of "over 60 mass graves" and her distress at visiting one site where "up to 15,000 bodies" were believed to be buried. Blair himself told the Labour Party website that the remains of "400,000 bodies" had been discovered in mass graves. All very good emotional responses to those who opposed "regime change" on legalistic grounds. Unfortunately, it would appear there has been a more than a bit of "sexing upwards" of the body count too.

Should I change my blog title?

I've always wanted to go into academia, and now, thanks to this reference from Tim, I've found out that from this day forward I will also be known as:
Professor Dances with Chipmunks.  However, as he also directs us to this, I feel I must issue a government health warning: Watch out, Blunkett's about!

Feather Brain

A loving tribute from Hornsey Girl to her Lib Dem MP, Lynne Featherstone over at Meusli Hill. Well worth popping along to.

God's teeth! (via Bloggerheads & ultimate insult)

Paul Foot, tributes

I once resigned my Labour Party membership, and briefly thought about the International Socialists, the chief reason being Paul Foot. Intelligent, articulate, a magnificent and tireless campaigning journalist, particularly on behalf of those who had suffered a miscarriage of justice (Hanratty, the Bridgewater 4 for example) and rare for a Swerp, a cracking sense of humour. Tributes and letters in The Guardian highlight this sad loss at only 66, and the BBC website has some nice personal tributes. No doubt the likes of British Spin will sneer and blame him for all of today's problems, whilst making lame excuses for the New Labour consensus. Tonight I'm very sad.

Bell... Blunkett, Blair

You cover up the truth with lies

It wasn't just the tabloids that told blatant lies in the run up to the war in Iraq. As the lie machine went into overdrive the Guardian, Observer and Sunday Telegraph all repeated ghastly lies as they jumped into line behind the Murdoch gutter press and the Mail. As George Monbiot points out, The Observer has a lot to apologise for.

Welcome back... its been too long

The blog world took a massive turn for the better today... because he's back and spitting bile as good as ever!

Not very PC

Yesterday morning on the Today programme, presenter Jim Naughtie said to David Blunkett that ..."people say, Mr Blunkett, that you have turned a blind eye to drug taking." With no hesitation at all, Blunkett proceeded to answer the question. Should he have done? Is it just a figure of speech? Or should Blunkett have taken the time to correct a very un-PC phrase?

Tomorrow is the 10th anniversary of Blair's succession to the Leadership of the Labour Party and no doubt we will see the balance sheet of the Blair years all over the media. When he made his acceptance speech, Blair said: "I will make the central priority of party organisation the creation of a genuine mass membership party, with roots in our local communities speaking up for those communities because it represents them and their aspirations." Over the New Labour years party membership has fallen drammatically, and the impact of the war in Iraq is still shaking out. So, that was the first failure eh?

Dubya Blogs

Nice to read that Dubya has started a blogsite. The image of Laura massaging his chaffed nipples, caused by an extremely tight-fitting bullet proof vest, will be always in my mind when I see him now.

Let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late

The whispering would appear to be turning into a growing rumble of discontent in the ranks, and you have to wonder if Prescott's plates are beginning to shift. The Cabinet members who urged Blair not to resign are probably those most vulnerable under a Brown leadership. Nothing wrong with a bit of enlightened self-interest I suppose. Everyone assumes Brown, but I suspect the anti-Brown lobby, including the most rabid Blairites, will be looking for the Straw man as an alternative.
 

The War on Learning

Robert Fisk on Bagdhad's War on Learning
 
Meanwhile it is alleged that the new Iraqi Puppet Prime Minister has been taking the 'war on terrorism' to heart.

There's only Juan Pablo Angel

 
The Angel of the Midlands has signed for another four years. 

Whodunnit

From left to right; Right Honourable Sir John Scarlett GCB, Right Honourable Scarlett Johns MP, Lord John of Scarlett KG GCB CVO (Chair), Right Honourable John O'Scarlett MP, Field Marshal Lord Scarlett KG GCB DL

Courtesy of The Butler Review as is the excellent Spot the WMD game

Half-wracked prejudice leaped forth

Apparently in a documentary to be broadcast this evening on BBC, BNP Leader Nick Griffin confesses that he could get seven years in prison for making the sort of speech he was making to his followers. Given the behaviour admitted by BNP members in the film, perhaps the police would like to test Mr Griffin's theory for him.

I know he didn't get seven years cold porridge, but look who else has decided to publicly confront the race issue on TV