Archive for October, 2009
Well worth reading
I’m quite behind all the cool kids with this one but it’s worth linking to anyway.
If you’ve got a few minutes go and read The Conservative Challenge by Sean Gabb. There’s a lot in it to think about, and articulates many of the reasons why I’m joining Old Holborn for his little walk, yes it’s only symbolic, yes it won’t achieve much – but symbols are important and exercising our legal rights to look silly in a quiet and peaceful fashion is important. It may make people think, or at least wonder what we’re up to, it may give us a chance to explain some of the stuff we’re worried about to other people, and it will give us the chance to remind a few PCSO’s and real police that people do have rights and that some of us will exercise them.
More demo’s on the 31st
As I mentioned a little while ago a rather dubious organization is planning a “procession” to call for the over throw of the government, monarchy and democracy in this country. The views of this group are rather unsurprisingly not widely supported being as they are just a few noisy extreme Muslims, however the march is significant so again unsurprisingly there is now a counter demonstration being organized by Muslims4UK, and British Muslims for Secular Democracy. Hopefully this will be a much larger demonstration, especially if those of us who are also rather against the ideas behind the initial “procession” turn up to be counted as well, as we have been invited to do.
Date: Saturday Oct 31 2009
Time: 13,00 to 16.00
Venue: Piccadilly Circus
(I sadly won’t be there due to being a few hundred miles away but I will be back for the 5th).
One thing though that may make this counter demonstration somewhat fraught or at least interesting is that the EDL seem to have changed their minds and despite initially saying that they were not counter demonstrating against Islam4UK they now are. Which may lead to some tension as the Muslims4UK group are against the EDL as much as they’re against the Islam4UK group saying:
“to the EDL: You do not represent English people. You are clearly looking to incite trouble.”
So with them both in the same place protesting against the same other group of protesters it may as I say become interesting. With luck it may become interesting in a positive way, with reconciliation of differences and increased understanding brought about by a shared opponent.
just to round things off the EDL have a promo video for their demo which as some very stirring music but really isn’t nearly as nice as the promo video made by
British Muslims for Secular Democracy under the moniker of SecularDemocracy.org
So if I could make it I’d be with the group with the amusing signs.
Update Facebook event here
WTF! no really I mean it
It seems as though all those conspiracy theories about mass immigration being a deliberate policy to change the culture of the UK may have had a point. According to a report in the Telegraph (hat tip to Iain Dale)
He wrote: “Earlier drafts I saw also included a driving political purpose: that mass immigration was the way that the Government was going to make the UK truly multicultural.
“I remember coming away from some discussions with the clear sense that the policy was intended – even if this wasn’t its main purpose – to rub the Right’s nose in diversity and render their arguments out of date.”
Currently I’m not angry about this, I’m still going WTF! The idea that there could be even a grain of truth in this, that any government could even briefly thing that such a policy was in anyway a good idea. Especially as from tales from some immigrants that arrived here to work and marry and form a life it seems that they must have had a very specific idea of which immigrants and what sort of diversity they wanted. So really what on earth where they thinking?
For now I’m going to go to bed, and hope that when I get up in the morning this will prove to be a bad dream or a hoax or something. On the off chance that it isn’t Leg Iron has a more coherent response and possible reasons (I think the David Icke being right theory may make the most sense).I expect there wil be some choice words over in the comments at Old Holborns
I am more than a little pissed off at the possibility that there’s even a grain of truth in any of this.
24 hours left on petition
I know it won’t do any good, but the petition that our glorious leader should resign has only 24 hours left to go.
It’s still the most popular petition on the Number 10 website, but with so little time left if you’ve not signed it yet you’d best hurry. You can sign it here.
The cost of innocence
It seems that too many people are being found innocent of offenses by the magistrates courts, so not only are these people having the cheek to not just pay fines for things they didn’t do but they’re costing the Government money by proving they didn’t do anything in the first place. This is obviously a shocking state of affairs, but worry not for it has come to my attention (via comments over at Leg Irons) that steps are proposed to address this terrible problem.
The cunning plan that our glorious leaders have come up with, is that if due to some mistaken belief in your own innocence you feel the need to not just accept a fine and any other associated punishment and have the temerity to go to court and actually win – well then to punish you for such behavior they’ll no longer pay your costs. Obviously this will in many cases mean that actually being innocent and defending that innocence will be more costly than just accepting the initial penalty , but you can’t put a price on justice can you and in these difficult times we all have to chip in to keep the wheels of state turning. It’s not as though there’s any risk that if there was no cost to prosecuting people, that the Government and their agents would be any less diligent in ensuring that there was a case to answer before taking 2innocent” people to court.
All that said it does appear that a few hot heads and self-interest groups are objecting, disreputable types like the Tory party, the bar association and the like. If for some odd reason you think it might be terribly unfair to be put of pocket by proving your innocence then here is a petition against it.
Will no one think of the MP’s?
I recently commented on how terribly ghastly being asked to pay back some money was for our beloved parliamentarians. I obviously didn’t realise just how terrible it was, but it seems to be causing some sort of mental aberration in Frank Field. Still using the defence that as he only claimed 30 to 50 % of what he was allowed to it must all have been utterly required for his parliamentary duties. He then goes on to say:
“Robert Verkaik in today’s Independent goes further. He argues that Sir Thomas Legg’s decision is not akin to retrospective changes to the criminal law, but to the changing of tax loopholes or windfall charges on corporations who have benefited from unintended legislative consequences.
The charges arising from the closing of tax loopholes, however, are never retrospectively imposed.”
Ok, once you’ve stopped laughing. I’m sure you can see the terrible effects the stress of having to pay back some money must have had on this poor poor man. The wind fall taxes certainly weren’t retrospectively imposed after the profits were made, the changes to VED in 2008 also obviously weren’t retrospective, and the tax man will never come after you years after you’ve made a mistake on your tax and had it seemingly approved and ask for it all back, plus interest. Oh and this Government has never argued:
“that retrospective taxation requires carefully scrutiny for its justification, but it is capable of being justified by sufficiently strong arguments.”
Obviously the only sensible way forward out of this mess is to create another bit of “non-retrospective” law to let them all off the hook and pay them suitable compensation for the mental anguish that being forced to lift their snouts biefly from the trough brief has obviously caused.
Update Anna Raccoon also points out the
‘pre-owned asset tax’ amongst others none of which could possibly be construed as retrospective tax or legislation, as those are bad.
Expenses the whinging
A bit late to press with this one, I blame work and other commitments so just for a change I will be linking to all sorts of other people that have already said what I’m thinking far more clearly than I will.
After a quiet summer the MPs are back to find that Sir Thomas Legg has completed his report and decided that an awful lot of them should really repay a small amount of the money they’ve fraudulently taken from us over the years. Amazingly enough this suggestion has met with a wailing and gnashing of teeth and cries of “being close to minimum wage” and roulette wheel justice even from the likes of the normally sane Frank Field. In fact so painful is it for these honourable members to have to pay back some of their ill gotten gains that they’re threatening to sue or even (can you believe it?) resign. Yes it really is that terrible for them, so bad that the main parties are actually working together to deal with this horrible catastrophe.
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Details of a little walk
It’s that time of year again when it seems like a terribly nice idea to go for a gentle stroll through the heart of the fair city of London, in the good company of a group of like minded people in the traditional walking gear of a mask and cloak.
Note that unlike the “procession” that will be taking place a few days prior, this is just a gentle stroll, not a protest, not a demo or anything as uncivilized as that. It is just a group of like minded people exercising their right to go for a walk in the attire of their choosing.
Full details can be found over at Old Holborns, and if you like that sort of thing I’ve created an un-official (though as this isn’t an organized event I’m not sure how you’d have an official event page) event over on Facebook
As OH says though, don’t bring a phone, don’t bring ID, just bring your outfit cash and a camera.
Carter-fuck at it again
So like a dose of the clap Carter-fuck are back at it again ( hat tip to Anna Raccoon). They seem to have realised that trying to stop the press reporting on Parliament is a bad move from a publicity point of view, so… now they’re trying to stop Parliament discussing the report about their client Trafigura dumping toxic waste on the Ivory Coast. The plan seeming to be to make use of the convention that Parliament doesn’t discuss matters that are sub judice, so as long as they can keep spinning out proceedings Parliament won’t be able to discuss Trafigura dumping toxic waste on the Ivory Coast and there wil be nothing for the press to report from Parliament and in the meantime everyone will get bored and go away. Simples!
Go read Anna Raccoon’s article and more at the Guardian
Oh and that report they really really don’t want people to know about that can be found here
Islam, Treason and print
Yesterday I commented about a march/procession that is being organized by “Islam for the UK”. Discussing this matter with other people elsewhere I’ve come to realize that this march may be more significant than at first site. Assuming of course that it’s not just an elaborate hoax which if you read the site seems almost creditable.
However there are two aspects to this march which I think are really worth further consideration.
1) How this march will be policed, and if it will be allowed to go ahead.
2) If the published material for this march is considered either treasonous or seditious and what action if any is taken.
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UK terror threat status
- Severe 2010/01/25