The trial of those accused, and now convicted, of the racially-motivated murder of Kriss Donald in Glasgow revealed details of such sickening brutality that I’m reluctant to discuss it in any detail.  Suffice to say that such exceptionally bestial crimes by their very nature do not reveal a ‘pattern’ of anything, no matter how much racists might wish otherwise.

But I’m led to comment because I’m not happy about some of the responses to this appalling case. Read More

Even though I presume that you, dear reader, laudably don’t buy The Times, nonetheless you may glance at headlines whilst passing a news-stand.

Yesterday’s main story was headlined ‘THE GREEN DIVIDE: Times poll shows the gulf between words and action on the environment’.

It shows nothing of the sort. The table that, ahem, proves it uses reasoning that could be easily unravelled by a brain damaged gerbil reading the newspaper in the dark. Read More

Ministry of Truth:

“In such circumstance, when a government refuses to enter into open public debate on legislation it is seeking to pass, the only wise, sensible and prudent response is not to permit them that legislation.”

Sandra Bell is a name I keep hearing. She’s seemingly an independent commentator, a security rent-a-quote, who so far this week has been mostly puffing the NuLab line for a prime-time audience. I guess this isn’t exactly news, given she formerly worked for QinetiQ, a company very much part of Blair’s corporate state. A company whose thoughts on ID cards, for example, are predictable and well documented.
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Short one, food for thought. Given a 61% turnout in the 2005 general election, with Labour winning 35% of votes cast, Tony Blair has a mandate from 22% of the electorate.

In other countries, President Bush has a mandate from 21% of voters. The Iraqi parliament from 27% of voters, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a staggering 36% of voters.

What gives?

Gay pride in Israel and Palestine
Liberating Jerusalem?

More Losers: two quotes illustrating just how clueless the Democrats really are.

Nicaragua: “They did everything but threaten to invade”
The dirty war continues

Did you know that intermittently brilliant comic Lenny Henry won New Faces? We’ll come back to this.
The paper I like to call tehgrauniad explains: Brown outlines his vision for an ‘X Factor’ Britain. No, really, I’m glad that Gordon has such up-to-the-minute advisors; otherwise he’d be telling us how he was ‘down with the kids’ and listening to that cool skiffle, Daddy-O.
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A strained Senate needs help, but the aid has been embargoed
 
“Great is the power of habit,” Cicero told us, “it teaches us to bear fatigue and to despise wounds and pain.”  Cicero was, of course, a Roman senator, dead for some time now.  However, with a little imagination, he could be thought to be talking about the American Senate of today, which, like any good political institution, is fatigued, wounded, in pain, and, mostly through habit, refusing to do anything about it. Read More