Riverbank News

My Sun story.

2012-01-17T16:21:00.008Z

With Kelvin Mackenzie giving evidence to the Leveson enquiry, I am reminded of a fabulous memory of when I tried to impress a bar maid by making up a story in the Sun, which Kelvin Mackenzie paid for and published. Here is the story which I call;

The Sun, the truth and Melanie.

In 1993 I had a weekly gig at the Albany pub in Thames Ditton, a popular riverside venue opposite Hampton Court Palace in Surrey where, every Saturday night from 9, I would perform two fifty minute sets of popular songs to a room filled with seasoned music loving drinkers, one of which was a great friend of mine, Mike Rick.

Mike was an American, exactly the same age as myself, we were born 15 days apart, who once played drums with Steppenwolf and worked as a Chippendale in Los Angeles before arriving in Surrey a few years previously. Mike was a popular local character, tall, blond haired blue eyed with a six-pack, which he would display at any given opportunity, and that year he attended every one of my 280 gigs in London and surrounds.

With two young children to support, Mike had turned his back on his acting and modeling career to set up a Photo agency, the Mike Rick Agency (MRA) through which he would sell any manner of photo to any manner of buyer.

One Monday night on a rare night off from work, I arranged to meet Mike for a pub meal at the Albany, where landlady Denieze ran a quite outstanding kitchen offering home cooked traditional pub meals at the shortest of notice. While I waited at the bar for Mikes arrival I looked through the pile of the previous days papers. A copy of the News of the World had dedicated its entire front page to the story of a wife swapping arrangement gone wrong. I read the story to learn that the two couples, who were local to the area, were in court after one of the men, a serving police officer, had attempted to murder his wife following her unsanctioned meeting with the husband of the other. Pretty standard NOTW fare.

Behind the bar that night was the buxomly attractive Melanie. A flirtatious 19 year old who lived in one of the neighboring roads, and always worked on the nights I performed.

It was a quiet Monday in the bar and so Melanie joined us in conversation, remarking on the NOTW story about the wife swapping couples. The conversation led to the subject of chequebook journalism and soon after that, I explained to Melanie that ‘As long as you identify the demand for a story, you can make up more or less anything and the tabloids will print it.’

Incredulously Melanie asked "How does that work then. Surely they can’t print made up stories."

“How it works is simple supply and demand. You look at what the demand is for. For instance, looking at yesterday’s papers, they all have a wife-swapping story. They will want more stories on that same subject. So if you supply a new wife swapping story, they will almost certainly print it.”

“Your making that up" said Melanie. “They can’t run made up stories."

A customer arrived, demanding Melanie’s pint pulling attention and once she left my conversation with Mike turned to a dare. “I’ll bet you I can make up a story about wife swapping and get the Sun to run it, and then show it to Melanie to demonstrate how easy it is to make up stories.”

“You write it up and I’ll sell it in" was Mikes reply.

Soon after finishing our meal I went home and started to write my Sun piece. 1,000 words, telling the story of a Suburban couple, who lived in Surbiton, which seemed to me a prime location for this sort of suburban past time. Because the current story was about wife swapping gone bad, I decided to make my one provocatively upbeat. My characters would be bored with their long marriage and turn to wife swapping for a bit of fun, and then find that it strengthened their marriage and both loved the arrangement, creating an easy opportunity and an open invitation for some editorial moralizing on the tale, as is so integral in a good tabloid story.

The story wrote itself and half an hour after starting I called Mike to read it to him on the phone.

‘That’s right on the money’ was his reply. ‘Now all we need are two actors for the photo shoot. They wont run the story without pictures, but with a photo shoot I reckon I will get 2 grand from them, so we could use that to pay actors.’

My friend Ken, who I often did duo gigs with and is a handsome West Indian origin musician, immediately sprang to mind. He was single and game for a laugh and would be grateful for a nice pay day. I called him. “Ken, I have a possible gig for you. Will take you one hour and pay you one thousand pounds. Interested?”

“What’s involved..”

“Its an acting gig for a Sun story that I am making up to impress the barmaid at the Albany. You come round to Mikes tomorrow. I have a script. Read the script and recite it. In a nutshell, you will be a married man who does a bit of wife swapping. You love it and it has done wonders for your marriage. They take a photo or two of you and your wife and that’s it. About a Month later they pay the bill and you get a thousand pounds.”

“What time shall I be there” asked Ken.

As his wife for the purposes of my story I asked another musician I knew who would appreciate a four figure payday for a one hour photo-shoot, Audrienne. Her reply to my request was “Where do I sign.”

Tuesday morning arrived and at ten o clock Mike made the call to the Sun Newsdesk, outlining the story on offer and negotiating the £2,000 charge plus his usual agents fee. He called me straight after to confirm the sale and that the journalist and photographer were scheduled for 2 pm for the photoshoot and interview, at Mikes home, in East Molesey.

Ken and Audrienne showed up at 1.30, thrilled to the bone. "I've never made a thousand pounds an hour before" said Ken.

Almost exactly at 2 o clock a very polite young pair from the Sun arrived, a photographer and a journalist, who read my two page story, which was of course credited to Ken, before clicking some posed pictures of Ken and Audrienne. Ken wore a suit for the occasion and Audrienne dressed up as well, looking very much the part of the couple from Surbiton. The Sun pair left at three, one hours work for my actors as promised.

On Wednesday morning I stopped by the Newsagent on my way for morning coffee and picked up a copy of the Sun. The story was featured as a double page center spread. A fetching picture of Ken and Audrienne and my 1,000 word story edited down somewhat, but more or less exactly as I had written it. As a cherry on the top, on the sidebar of the spread was a comment by Sun Agony Aunt Deirdre Sanders, commenting that although wife swapping had worked for this couple, they were ‘lucky to escape disaster.’ She urged readers not to try it at home, or in the schoolyard.

I enjoyed a wonderful sense of elation that morning as I drank my cappuccino whilst reading a story I had made up just 48 hours previously being presented as news in a National paper read by some 9 Million people. My first thought was, all that cost them was £2,000 plus a few expenses and they filled two entire pages.

That night I went to the Albany to claim my gloating prize from young Melanie.

“Melanie, do you remember our conversation on Monday about making up stories in the paper” I asked. “Yes, you told me papers make up stories” she reminded me accusingly.

“Have you see today’s Sun” I inquired. “No, why should I have” she replied. With a flourish I opened a copy of the Sun to the center page spread and placed it in front of her. She looked down and started reading. “A wife-swapping story. What’s your point" she asked.

“It’s a made up story. I made it up on Monday after we spoke" I said, a little taken aback that she hadn't spotted the obvious. "And here it is appearing as a true story on Wednesday in the Sun.” A perplexed expression descended across her face. She scanned the article and found what she was looking for. “Your making it up. It has the name of the journalist with the story and its not you.”

“Well, that’s correct, its not my name on the story, but I did write it, and look at who that is in the picture". Ken had played in the Albany many times and Melanie knew Ken.

“Why am I looking at this picture” she asked. "Don’t you recognize who that is”. She looked again. ”Its Phil Jefferson” she replied, reading the name I had made up for Ken.

“Does that not look to you like Ken” I inquired. She looked again. “Yes, it looks a bit like Ken, but this guy is Phil Jefferson, look at the name on the picture”.

Melanie was adamant and would accept none of my attempts to convince her, leaving me with the assurance that the picture of Ken was definitely Phil Jefferson because ‘There is no smoke without fire.’

I had set out to demonstrate to a young lady how chequebook journalism follows a supply and demand model placing very little reliance on truth, and although I had failed to convince her, I had entertained an audience of 9 Million along the way, given two musical friends a £1,000 an hour pay day, while taking an important lesson from an experience which had begun as an attempt to teach and ended with an important lesson in how truth works.

My truth was that I had made up a story and seen it published as detailed above. Melanie's truth is that some fellow named Phil Jefferson and his wife Terri had tried wife-swapping and the Sun had published their story, which, for some strange reason the musician had tried to pretend he had invented.

The overall truth, the one on which tabloid journalism depends, is that you can never overestimate the public stupidity.

2011

2011-12-22T11:49:00.004Z

2011 has been an interesting year. Here are a few of the highlights of my year in the form of seven items of interest:

1. After many years of effort, 2011 was the year my book The Emergency Bouzouki player was published.

2. The Emergency Bouzouki player was edited by John Oakley-Smith, who I first met as a young musician growing up in South Africa. A tremendously influential intellect and musical artiste, working on the book has given me the opportunity to re-release one of his wonderful songs from his 70’s album ‘Matinees on Saturdays’ well known to everyone of my generation in South Africa. Here is ‘The Lady from the Odeon’ written and performed by John Oakley-Smith as a digital download.

3. Cate Mackenzie is a Love coach and a fabulously vibrant personality who I had the pleasure of recording with this year, releasing her CD the ‘Open your heart’ meditation, which features my new age music.

4. Jojo Alves and I used to do duo gigs in South Africa over 30 years ago. He was an amazing guitarist then and this year saw the release of a three year project, which I executive produced, of his new guitar style called ‘six on seven’. A two handed guitar style. Here is the introduction to the 2 neck guitar and here is the YouTube video of the 'Warrior Waltz'

5. Lynda Hayes is a quite magnificently talented person in so many ways, and has developed a jewellery design skill that has become a Facebook entertainment spectacular over the course of the year. If its beautifully hand crafted original design jewellery that interests you, then ladies and Gentleman introducing: Lynda Hayes Jewelry

6. If you read to a young child and have a Kindle, then Steve Stapleys book ‘Fables of Fabulous animals’ is a well spent five pounds. Order on Amazon

7. My 2009 album of meditation music written with Hugh Burns Angels and Unicorns has been my best selling album this year and is well worth a listen.

Wishing you all of the best for 2012.

Religion. Whats not to love about it.

2011-12-03T11:34:00.004Z

As Mark Twain observed
"religion began when the first conman met the first fool."
All religious belief relies on the principle of blind faith to sustain dependence on that which any intelligently designed rationale knows as an entirely ridiculous proposition. Even attempting to debate this subject is ridiculous.

The Earth is 6,000 years old. Err?

Unfortunately, if statistics are to be believed some 50% of Americans really are that dumb.

For those that know, no explanation is necessary and for those who don't, no explanation is possible.

Them that know, know that they know, them that don't know. They don't know they don't know.

An argument that can be used equally well from both sides of the fence. Those denying the theory of gravity could use this logic just as efficiently as those who believe that gravity exists.

Ultimately the most reliable truth of our age is that the truth is what you choose to believe. Anyone so lacking in rational thought as to believe the Earth is 6,000 years old (half of Americans) and that they are so self-important every moment of their lives has been carefully thought out to the most minute detail by an all seeing all powerful god who so loved his 7 day creation that he gave them Syphilis, malaria, cancer, genital mutilation, gigantism, obesity, dwarfism and a whole host of other demonstrations of his loving benevolence, deserves to discover life after death, however improbable this outcome may be.

Preaching to the converted is pretty much a waste of time beyond light relief, and that is the point of this page. Fun. Religion is the single most destructive of mans inventions and one day, hopefully soon, the overt practice and recruitment oriented advertisement of religious belief will become illegal.

Certainly the targeted abuse of children in the early capture of their vulnerable young minds is a heinous offense which should be stopped IMMEDIATELY, being no less than a cynical and malicious child-abuse hate crime. What is wrong with teaching children a compassionate kindness based regard for all other living creatures without the divisive corrosive malevolence which is the lifeblood of all religion.

Religion. Whats not to love about it.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Religion-Whats-not-to-love-about-it/ Fun fun fun.

Mad dog killed in desert

2011-10-25T19:27:00.007+01:00

When Paul Simon said 'I don't believe what I read in the papers - they're just out to capture my dime' he was observing the cynical commercial motivation affecting factual news reporting. Since then the relationship between mainstream news and truthful, balanced fact reporting has turned considerably worse, as news media become more than ever, the delivery needle for injecting Government designed public opinion into the heart of the majority.

No news event demonstrates the corrupt nature of press formulating public opinion more succinctly than the decision to demonize and assassinate Gaddafi. From the moment they failed to 'declare war' while sending in waves of bombers to kill many women and children in pursuit of their one clear agenda, to kill Gaddafi, it was clear to anyone aware of US foreign policy and its controlling use of media that this decision was made before the first wave of bombs fell on the first Libyan kid and that media did not in any way offer reliable reporting of the facts. I have never been more embarrassed by the state of world journalism than I am by the events surrounding the assassination of Gaddafi.

I was reminded at the time when he was being so severely bombed, of the way it was for the ANC in the 70's and 80's, when they may have buckled under the weight of Reagan's American and Thatchers British opprobrium encouraging the mighty bombs of the SADF, were it not for the significant and vital assistance offered to them by Gaddafi, the terrorist sponsor, without whose aid Mandela might still be in an Apartheid jail.

Unquestionably the list of things that worked out rather well during Gaddafi's leadership tenure, like raising Libya from the poorest Country in the world to the highest in Africa's 'Human Development Index' have either been revised or ignored. The demonisation is so complete that I was told off by an intelligent friend (Lisa) for speaking up for a man 'who used chemical weapons to genocide his own people.' People who know little or nothing about Libya suddenly knew everything about why Gaddafi was a monster who had to be killed because he was a 'Mad Dog'.

I am particularly offended by the blanket postering of his gruesome corpse over every front page in the World - force feeding an image to children without considering parental warnings commonly associated with images of such a damaging and offensive nature - for one reason. To render the name and the memory of Gaddafi beyond redemption. No chance of any Gaddafi heir resurfacing in Libya. No chance of remembering him in any way beyond that bloodied pulp. And then there is this business of leaving his bloodied corpse to ROT in public display until the stench of his decomposing flesh required visitors wearing a mask to stop themselves heaving - when Muslim tradition demands - and he himself requested in his will - that a Muslim be buried as soon as possible (Usually within 24 hours.) As if even his Muslim identity had to be destroyed. This is pretty shabby behavior on a number of levels.

Whatever atrocities may or may not be associated with Gaddafi's 42 years in office, those responsible for his killing- the NATO controllers and their payroll - are in my book - destined for far worse.
Now that they seemingly have got away with the whole thing - with nary a voice being raised in asking - where was the reporting of this war where so many died - and so many children died.
The basic questions that we might have been interested in knowing more about:

Who financed the rebels. How were they financed. What deal was done in exchange for this financing. Who are these rebels. Who paid for the Toyota 4 X 4's. Who did the mechanical work mounting all those weapons on those 4 X 4's? How many British bombs were dropped. How much UK taxpayer money was spent bombing Libya. How many children did our bombs kill. How do our RAF pilots feel about dropping bombs on children. How many schools and hospitals were flattened. Who is negotiating the Oil contracts now. Who is negotiating the reconstruction work? What happened to Gaddafi's plan to shift the oil pricing away from dollars to a Gold standard? What happened to the remains of his grandchild who we blew up in Tripoli.

None of which I expect to hear too much about. 'Mad dog killed in the desert' is the only story they're selling.

Now that we have touched this new low in reporting and blind acceptance, we can expect to see a lot more of this media invention leading to State sponsored assassination. We are all the poorer for the 1% invading Libya, no matter how much they needed the money.

Wealth

2011-10-12T11:44:00.007+01:00

With ever increasing numbers falling below the poverty line, it is interesting to see the extent to which extreme wealth is concentrated more than ever in the hands of a small minority.

Possibly 1% of the Earth own the same amount as the remaining 99%. Are these events connected. Does the accumulation of this extraordinary wealth, controlled by so few, have a bearing on the extreme poverty of so many and in economic terms, is there a link between the numeric imbalance between the changing fortunes in either camp?

And what of the opportunities control of this extreme wealth represents.

Consider Mukesh Ambani. India's richest man and the 4th richest in the World. He has a new boat coming. The YACHT. And of course there is his house overlooking the poor people, where his wife and three children have some 440,000 square feet of space to be waited on by their 600 staff. The HOUSE. Ambani sold his London Apartment for some £140 Million. The London APARTMENT.

Obscene wealth?

How about the Saudi Defense minister, Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz. Obviously ministerial salaries in Saudi are pretty good when you can afford a $200 Million YACHT.

Oligarch Abramovitch, described in a London Court this week by his former associate as a 'Gangster' spends obscene wealth obscenely. On one boat alone he has spent a rumoured $1 Billion. The YACHT.

Robert Kuok. A Malaysian businessman, 88, spent almost $5 Billion on a boat that is Gold Plated. The Gold Plated YACHT.

Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud owns 3 palaces, a $500 million yacht, and a private Boeing 747 with an Airbus A380 on the way.

In the US, just 400 people have more wealth than half of all America combined. Add the resources owned by the top 1% wealthy in the world - and the figure will be approximately the same as that shared by the remaining 99%.

Do the 1% super rich warrant their wealth? Is their wealth commensurate with their endeavor? Does this wealth in any way reflect a contribution that has made the world a better place?

The saying 'it takes money to make money' suggests that as these uber fortunes accumulate, the flow of money toward their gravitational pull can only mean one thing. The rich will continue to get richer while the poor will get poorer. Never before has the contrast between the two been so evident. It seems that the 99% exist solely to provide the services required by the Super rich 1%, who own 99% of everything, from the Government, to the Mosques, to the land and to the skies.

The most likely scenario in respect of change in the distribution of wealth - is that ten years from now the numbers will read 99.2% own the same as .8%.

Unless.

Greek Embassy performance

2011-09-28T11:35:00.004+01:00

Appointments manager page on Embassy web site. Note the Passport booking option is NOT AVAILABLE.

Every 5 years for the past 25 years I renew my Greek passport at the embassy in Holland Park. The performance of the civil servants tasked with running the embassy provides an interesting and accurate insight into the workings of Greece's Government.
Last time, 5 years ago in 2006, performance reached an all time low. Let me run you through the experience.
With passport photos and supporting documents at the ready - drive to Holland Park and park in the £4 per hour parking. Then stand in queue for three hours until you get to the counter. Civil servant then looks at your passport photos and says 'These are wrong. You need to have them done according to this document. Come back when you have done it.'
That is visit number 1 done. Cost in parking and petrol £25.

Visit number 2 - three days later with new passport pics.
Drive to Holland Park and park in the £4 per hour parking. Then stand in queue for three hours until you get to the counter. Civil servant then looks at your documents and says "The pistopitiko requirements have changed. You need to go back to your home village of registration and have them issue a new original document.'
My home village of registration is Adamas in Milos. Several thousand miles away.
That is visit number 2 done. Cost in parking and petrol £25.

Visit number 3 - ten days later with new pistopitiko acquired through the generous efforts of my Uncle in Athens.
Drive to Holland Park and park in the £4 per hour parking. Then stand in queue for three hours until you get to the counter. Civil servant then looks at your documents and says '.........

OK - let me speed this process up.....

Visit number 3 led to visit number 4. Visit number 4 led to visit number 5. Visit number 5 led to visit number 6. Visit number 6 led to visit number 7. Visit number 7 led to visit number 8. By now two Months have passed.

Visit number 8 led to visit number 9. Visit number 9 led to visit number 10. At visit number 10 an old man in front of me, said 'This is my 5th visit here. Why are you doing this to me. I am 80 years old. You should be ashamed of yourselves.' I was quite hopeful then that this would be my last visit. I was so close to the new passport I could almost taste it. But no. Visit number 10 led to visit number 11. After visit number 11, I almost wished I would not conclude the process at visit number 12. I had by now become institutionalized by the process.

Four Months had passed and without my participation in this all consuming theatre of living surrealism, I felt any prospect of a return to normal life would leave me somehow diminished. Fortunately, visit 12 turned up another requirement, although the official did say to me 'I think we have everything now. So when we call you next, it will be to collect your passport.'

And so, on to visit 13. Some 5 Months after visit one, I parked up in Holland Park and stood in the three hour queue for what I hoped would be the last time. While there I did the maths. Average of 25 pounds per visit in parking alone for 13 visits totals £325. Petrol from Hampton Court to Holland Park - say £10 per visit. Another £130. Average five hours of my time per visit for thirteen visits plus stressful worry time along the way is of course an immeasurable quantity. But all these thoughts paled in that moment when, after keeping me waiting in a chair outside an office for an hour and five minutes, I was called in to sign a document and take away my new passport.

When I got home I wrote an e mail to my uncle in Greece, the one who helped me with the paperwork and who lives in Athens, in which I said 'No Government represented by this level of inefficiency and gross incompetence can hope to survive the economic consequences of such horrific wastefulness. This is beaurocracy out of all control and out of all reason. The idea that this system can survive is ridiculous. It is only a matter of time until it all comes tumbling down."

Five years have passed and I am now back at the Greek Embassy position for passport renewal.
Things have changed - in many ways.
The passport renewal process is now 'by appointment only'. How thrilled was I to see this on the website? Very. Off I went to the form to make my appointment. There is no other way of making an appointment than by the 'Appointment manager' software on the Embassy site. 'Click on the date you ant for the appointment it said. Off I went to the page. But wait. There is no option available. 'There must be some mistake' I thought to myself.
Sadly not. No mistake. The Greek Embassy in London - whose job it is to issue Greek Passports renewed in London has NO available option for providing this service.

I e-mailed the embassy with this astonishing news and the reply read '.... please visit our website www.greekembassy.org.uk to arrange your appointment and to check the required documents. In case that you can not see on our website available appointments, this is because all the appointment until the end of January are booked. However , there are many cancellations( when one happens , the option becomes bold and below you can see the date and time slot,) , so we believe that soon you will be able to find an availability.'

And so - every day I log on - fill out the form and check. Nothing to see here.

Sigh.

I will report back with progress - but I fear, like Greece's prospects for sensible Governance, I may be gone for some time.

.............

UPDATE: 27 November, 2011. No further news from the Greek embassy.

Virgin Media reply

2011-08-25T16:02:00.005+01:00

August 22, 2011.

A reply from Virgin Media to my letter of 6 June 2011, in which I detail their criminal fraud. (See previous blog Post 1. And Post 2.) In the interim I have received approximately 33 phone calls, often at socially awkward hours, three extremely threatening letters from 'Moorcroft Debt Collection' who intimated their debt collection agents would soon be around to seize property and sell it off unless I paid them - £170.80, as well as three separate 'Please come back to Virgin Media' sales packs.

The legal advice I acted on in this time was "Do nothing. This is what Virgin Media do. They will huff and puff for a few Months. Simply ignore the threats, avoid their phone calls, and eventually they will issue an apology and close the file. You can then take a view on whether or not to pursue damages."

The facts of this matter are simple. Virgin Media are no better than a criminal gang, using threats of violence, because that's what the promise of breaking into my home illegally constitutes, to extort money which they are not owed, which is called Fraud.

As you will see in the letter received today, once they see their threats have failed to serve their intended purpose, they change tack, and withdraw, with the immortal line 'I'm sorry for the misunderstanding regarding the cancellation of your service and for any inconvenience caused.'
Virgin Media reply, 22 August.

In conclusion - my experience of Virgin Media confirms they operate a fraudulent practice willingly relying on criminal extortion.

Virgin Media. Criminal Fraud?

2011-07-05T14:23:00.008+01:00

One Month after my letter to Virgin Media detailing their fraudulent attempt to extort money - they have instead continued their hallmark company ethos of harassment and threats with a promise of Court action unless I pay £80 within 14 days - or else - they will 'send the boys round personally to collect.'

Here is my reply:

Virgin Media.

Darren Hall

Head of Credit Management

Virgin Media payments.

6 July, 2011.

I am writing with regard to your letter of 30 June, 2011.

I note that Virgin Media have not yet replied to my letter of 6 June, 2011 in preference of sending further demands.

It must be a matter for regret that you have chosen to ignore both the content of my letter with the serious allegations presented therein, as well as the convention of providing the basic courtesy of a written reply.

The breach of agreement you refer to in your letter of 30 June is unreliable. Virgin Media breached the agreement by terminating my service on 5^th of May, 2011. In fact, as amounts are prepaid for the service you provide, I am owed a credit balance from the point you terminated my service. This breach is compounded by the harassment and threatening correspondence that is a hallmark of Virgin media customer relations.

I am not prepared to engage in further costly correspondence with yourselves over this matter in which you have already had every opportunity to redress the incompetence leading to your threat of legal action and reference to ‘professional collection agents to call upon you personally to collect monies due.’

I therefore look forward to notice of the court proceedings you have promised and the opportunity they represent for properly examining the extent of Virgin Media’s criminal conduct in the matter of fraudulently attempting to extort money by using harassment and threatening conduct predicated on flagrant disregard of the facts in this case.

Virgin Media. Fraud.

2011-06-06T10:49:00.013+01:00

My letter to Virgin Media.
Worst service provider I have ever had dealings with.

Virgin Media.

Ann Curran

Head of Contact Management

Virgin Media payments.

6 June, 2011.

I am writing with regard to your bill, £140.19 for charges up to 6 July, as well as your letter of 30 May from Anne Curran, demanding £72.17 as it relates to Section 4 of the Fraud Act 2006, "Fraud by abuse of position."

The facts in this matter are:

1. Some Months ago I received a letter from Virgin Media accusing me of ‘Detrimental use of broadband.’ Upon review I noted in a call to Virgin Media that I was away for lengthy periods of time during this period where this limitation to the unlimited Broadband package I paid for apparently occurred. I felt the heavy-handed correspondence from Virgin media was of an unacceptably low standard. As a result I started using a new Service provider, keeping my Virgin media account solely for the E Mail addresses which were widely used in my business.

2. Despite the fact that I barely used the Virgin Media unlimited broadband service – I received a second letter once more accusing me of ‘Detrimental use of broadband’ which demanded that I call Virgin Media to provide assurances of submission to the Virgin Media code of ethics for the still unqualified offence presented as ‘Detrimental Use of Broadband.’ No indication of what this offence might entail was offered. I was at this point disturbed by the threatening approach to customer service and resolved to terminate my use of Virgin Media’s products with permanent effect. Writing to a customer demanding they call in to provide assurances on limiting the product sold as unlimited or else face being disconnected without further notice is to my mind unacceptable business conduct.

3. On Thursday 5^th May 2011, at 11am I phoned Virgin Media to cancel my subscription. I was advised of the 30-day notice period and assured the service would remain active until 4^th June. This would enable me to effect changes to a new e-mail address for the various areas, such as Internet Banking, Share trading accounts, PayPal and Amazon accounts as well as the commercial scripts which run sales for my business – all of which return to my e-mail account, which was controlled by Virgin Media.

4. At 4 PM on the 5^th of May - my e-mail ceased working. I called the operator to be told ‘I see they have put a hold on your account’. I requested that ‘they’ call me to explain. The operator told me ‘They will not do that.’ I would like to be very clear on this point. Virgin Media suspended my e-mail account on the 5^th of May, despite being told that the extent of how I rely on this for my business. When I called in to enquire – I was told by the operator – who accessed my file before she spoke to me – thereby confirming that the matter of this disconnection in on your files – that despite my protestation that this was shocking business practice and that someone from Virgin should call me to explain – she said ‘They will not do that.’ I asked the Virgin Media representative if I could quote her on that and she said ‘You can do what you like.’

5. On Friday 6^th May with no Internet service available to me from Virgin Media with my broadband account quite obviously suspended two things became clear: Firstly I was paying for a service that I was not receiving and secondly, that I would now have to incur costs to adjust my business accounts which rely on my e mail address.

6. I consulted with a Telecoms experienced lawyer following which I cancelled the direct debit payment at 11.30 AM on Friday the 6^th.

7. On Saturday 14^th May, the Virgin media phone line, which was a part of the package with the broadband was disconnected. By this time I had still not received so much as a courtesy call from Virgin media explaining why they suspended my service although I did receive bulky correspondence inviting me to ‘Come back to Virgin media.’ Demonstrating the lack of cross-departmental cohesion that is as offensive to the customer as it is an indication of ineffectual business practise.

8. On 30^th May I received a letter from Anne Curren chasing payment of £72, which followed an invoice for £140.19. These amounts are for services that were not provided. I understand the correct legal term for the attempt to charge for a service you have no intention of providing is attempted fraud. Virgin Media knew the service was not being provided – having themselves terminated the service on 4^th May 2011, yet Virgin media sent a bill charging £140.19 for the period to 06 July 2011.

9. My costs in physically contacting and effecting change of e-mail address for my business arising from the termination of my e mail account on the urgent basis required by the disconnection exceed £500. The stress of dealing with this harassment style bullying incompetence that is the face of a company who cut-off the service of a very long standing premium customer and then reply to the request to be called by someone responsible with the words ‘They wont do that’ should have a compensatory value. My legal costs in establishing my position in this matter, is a further consideration. The fraudulent attempt to extort further payment for services offered after the termination of the service provided may be no more than an administrative oversight in your view, in mine however it has the serious consequence of requiring additional time commitment in the form of taking legal advice and authoring this time intensive correspondence.

10. I dispute your charges, as detailed above, as they relate to services that were never provided and that you never had any intention of providing. The act of presenting these charges is attempted fraud.

11. I look forward to your proposals for recompensing me for:

11.1. The costs of transferring, under conditions of urgency, my e mail account information on the 4^th of May from approximately 17 key business links all of which required time intensive correspondence with verification and explanation in a process occupying most of my time for two full days.

11.2. Compensation for being exposed to the schoolyard bullying style incompetence that characterised my correspondence with Virgin media and the ‘Detrimental use of Broadband’ issue leading to the termination of my account without as much as a phone call, but with a surfeit of threat and malign implication. The cost in addressing the fraudulent claims for charges for services you had no intention of providing.

11.3. The cost of my legal advice, including how best to deal with the daily harassment via telephone of your company’s calls to my private number. There has been a call and message left on my phone every single day this week demanding payment including on the weekend.

As a premium rate customer of the Broadband service in this area, from the very outset with Nynex who laid the original cable over 20 years ago, then with Pipex who bought them out, then with NTL who bought out Pipex and then most recently with Virgin Media. Over 20 years as a premium rate customer of the broadband service provided to this location and until now, over a 20-year period, without any complaint. In the past year the Virgin Media service has declined noticeably. There were periods when I was unable to even download a basic e-mail in less than 3 minutes, despite your advertised reassurances of ‘lightning fast’ broadband. I repeatedly ran tests on broadband download speed-reading to confirm that over 50% of the time using your broadband service, the download rate was under 100K. Yet I was being charged and paying for your top of the range broadband product. Curiously despite the hugely varying download speeds and the inconvenience the slow download periods imposed, at no time did the cost of the service I was paying for reflect the fact that I was not receiving what was being advertised. “Happy to take the money for the goods but nowhere to be seen when the goods went bad” is a fair assessment of this aspect in my dealings with Virgin Media. The decline in the service provided has been matched by the decline in professional standards. I can’t think of any company I have dealt with in the past that has caused me as much stress and disgruntlement as Virgin Media.

That you have the temerity to try and send me an invoice after cutting off my service is entirely consistent with the standards I have come to expect from Virgin Media. As a former customer the experience will in my case be remembered for the only good thing arising from the business relationship, which is the story I look forward to telling.

I look forward to your reply to the points raised above.

Andrew Brel.

Katya Koren and Islam

2011-06-03T12:50:00.009+01:00

I have wondered, and this wonderment has persisted consistently almost all of my life, how it is that something as staggeringly dumb as belief in an invisible chap in the sky who runs the show and requires total blind submission to his ways, is not permanently and conclusively eliminated from the list of blights on mankind.

The great qualities we possess as a species have reached many fantastic landmarks. Great minds have turned to the challenges facing our survival and demonstrated just how amazing we can be when applying rational logical thought in a forward direction. We managed to overcome many of the diseases that have blighted our evolutionary path - TB and smallpox to mention but two - yet this much more sinister and murderous pox on humanity, one which could so easily with mere legislation be wiped out at the swish of a pen, continues to flourish. How is it possible?

I am reminded of this today looking at the picture of Katya Koren. A Ukranian 19 year old who participated in a beauty pageant, for which reason she apparently attracted the rape and stoning death attention of 3 Muslim youngsters including, Bihal Gaziev, 16, who suggested (according to the Police report) that his belief in the invisible man in the sky and his set of rules regarding how to live on Earth required killing young Katya, in an appropriately barbaric way. His claim that she was in breach of Sharia values has a sound ring to it. Rape and brutal murder are far less likely to accompany the actions of a rational logical thinker than an adherent to blind faith.
One need look no further than Tony Blairs example to see how loosely Biblical interpretation, in his case 'Thou shalt not kill,' lend themselves to the illogic of the blind faith supplicant.

Bihal's claim is much like that of John Joe Thomas, 28, of Pennsylvania, who, just a few Months ago filled a sock with rocks and bashed 70 year old Murray Seidman, who had named him as his sole beneficiary in his will, to death, with the explanation that he read in the Old Testament that homosexuals should be stoned to death. "Thomas said he received a message in his prayers that he must kill Seidman." Well why not. If you believe in the invisibility of logic, then you can do whatever your prayers tell you to do.

Just another Biblical tragedy and there are no shortage of tragedies arising from that unholy book.

“The battle for mans extinction has never been more fiercely contested, on one side, the supplicants of irrational blind faith and on the other, rational logical minds.” The Emergency Bouzouki Player.

For those supplicants of blind faith, who number more than half of the Earth and who populate almost all of the most powerful offices – from the US Presidency to the Billionaire sheikdoms – there is no workable moral code. The premise of their position – scriptural prescription – is ridiculous. So much so that the only way it can survive is reliance on an idea called blind faith. Blind faith as an argument for believing anything is a ridiculous premise which cannot survive without defeating its ideological opposite. Rational logical thought.

Debating the merits of scriptural prescription is ridiculous, being the intellectual equivalent of defending the flatness of the Earth. The scriptures, the bible, the Quran and all their silly derivatives are ridiculous. Childrens fairy stories rehashed through the millennia to support the ‘my god is better than your god’ argument whose premise is an ‘eternity in heaven’ for submission, and an ‘eternity in hell’ for the rest. The purveyors of this cynical relief package for the desperate and needy – the Popes, Bishops, Imamsm Fathers and Padre’s – perpetuate a delusion they can only maintain through blind faith. They are, without exception, not only ridiculous, but the enemy of reason, in service to a system of social, psychological, spiritual and intellectual abuse. Perpetuating, often on pain of death, submission through the metaphorical equivalent of thought lobotomy, into their social order in which the right to independent thought is forbidden and non-conformity persecuted.

Mans great advances since the first thinkers began developing ideas and sharing them for the betterment of all, have, almost without exception, arisen from non-believers, often despite persecution by the Religious powers of the day. Often those thought-contributors who were under the influence of the Church - would have to suppress their inventions if they threatened the Church's absolute stronghold on stupidity. Were it not for non-believers pursuing logical rational thought and directing the benefits toward upliftment of our human race in general, we would in all certainty already be extinct as a species.

And yet, more than half the planet believe through blind faith in a scripture based prescription which relies on a logical argument that a 9 year old would easily discredit with basic thought. How is it that seemingly intelligent people defend this iniquitous, exploitative, divisive product whose purpose is no more than to offer ridiculous promises – heaven and hell - while offering nothing in return. Perhaps this is related to the fact that more than 50% of the Earths population live in abject poverty, less than $2 a day. This poverty layer make prime harvesting fields for souls so desperate they will believe anything. Is it not the most cynical of devices for churches to recruit from the underbelly of those most dispossessed by economic misfortune, who will believe anything for the price of a hot meal?

In terms of the powers that be, using the example of the USA, the heartland of Christian belief with their ‘In God we trust’ approach, who could legislate to end the pernicious growth of this social cancer, the motivation to do so is at odds with the formula for success in a democratic election. (And I use the word democratic in its loosest American style interpretation.) Dumbed down believers in blind faith prescription will vote accordingly - their vote is so easy to manipulate - believe in invisible things and you will believe whatever you are told - in his name. The words 'God' and 'Democracy' are so linked in American politics that the chances of a leader being elected who didn't embrace the little mighty Jesus in his manifesto - would stand no hope. So America's leadership is limited to either a leader who believes in an invisible man guiding his hand - or one who lies about it. Any suggestion that this represents democracy - rule by the people - must acknowledge the distance America's democratic model represents from the Greek invention.

Oh well. Bihal Gaziev and John Joe Thomas have an important lesson for us all. As believers they are guaranteed a place in heaven, albeit two different heavens. Another two good reasons to believe.

Book launch talk

2011-05-27T06:40:00.003+01:00

Here is the transcript of my book launch talk in Hampton Court on 26 May.

The Emergency Bouzouki Player is a war story.

I started writing this book in January 1979 when I found myself in a place called the shooting range, one week into basic training as an infantryman in the town of Kimberley, in a unit called 11 Kommando, being prepared for a war called the ‘Border war’, which we now know as ‘the war for apartheid’.

The border war as some of you will know was at the time Africa’s longest running conflict, going on for some 23 years and in 1979 it was at its height even though the terrorist leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, Nelson Mandela had been captured and sentenced to life in prison.

My story started with a realisation. I had been press-ganged. Shanghai’d if you like out of my student life as a happy musical 18 year old and placed in a uniform under the life and death auspices of thoroughly unpleasant Afrikaner Army instructors charged with, in their own words ‘breaking down the person to build a soldier’.

I was at that time a soft skinned University student with liberal leanings, and did not take kindly to being ‘broken down’. To compound matters still further, I am a Libran, and as any Libran will understand, possessed with an advanced sense of justice and fairness. The shock of being threatened – on pain of death – with the prospect of becoming a soldier to fight the war in defense of apartheid was iniquitous to me. I literally could not believe that what was happening around me could be either legal or acceptable.

Although my circumstance was a common one in that every South African born white male of my generation had to serve 2 years of National service, I fell into a small minority group for whom reluctant compliance was replaced by obstinate commitment to fight the system, and so my war began. I was drafted into a war, and a war is what followed. Two years of bitter war with the South African Army.

I completed 5 days of basic training before I reached my self-determined tipping point, after which time I became a deceitful refusenik. Integral to my deceit was the claim to be a bouzouki player. This was especially significant in my story because my only hope of salvation from being sent to fight and kill on the border lay in being transferred to the Entertainment corps. A quite amazing unit tasked with providing a top class show band to service Government and senior military functions.

Being possibly the most desirable posting in the Army, many thousands of gifted musicians applied for a place in the Entertainment corps and the competition for selection was tough. When my turn came to fill out my application for the role of guitar player, in the column marked ‘do you play any other instruments’ I wrote Bouzouki, even though I had no skills on that instrument. I made this claim because, as a Greek, I obviously knew a bit about the Bouzouki, and understanding the South African stereotypical way of thinking, I bluffed that being Greek and saying I could play the bouzouki would add up to – aha – now we have a Bouzouki player.

By this slim thread of deceit and coincidence, I became the South African Army’s premier Bouzouki player and by devising a clever rolling plectrum style on my guitar, was able to approximate the sound of a bouzouki with sufficient conviction to fool even the Prime Minister with my smooth sultry bouzouki styling’s.

On one occasion where I was performing my bouzouki music for the Prime Minister, the odious PW Botha, also known as the great crocodile, possibly because he was so very ugly he resembled a crocodile, driven by his close proximity to a moment of sociopathic rage, I told him that his ‘bum stinks.’

A modest footnote in the annals of revolutionary protest I know, but certainly the only occasion where a teenaged troop in uniform was able to insult a Prime Minister to his face, in the presence of half of his cabinet, and live to tell the tale.

That tale, and many more like it form the fabric of the book. Two years in the life of a Greek teenager at war with the South African army and two years that shaped the destiny of the emerging South Africa.

In my role as a bandsman in the Entertainment corps I traveled the length and breadth of South Africa and the war zone, which, when I look back on it, was a lot like watching surgery take place from the perspective of the scalpel.

A microscopic insight into the festering toxic puss rotting the soul of a diseased nation. South Africa in 1979 was a sick society. Driven by a fanatical fundamentalism, a religious belief system acquired through that cynical sickening confidence trick called blind-faith.

With their blind-faith, their god and their iniquitous laws of hate empowering a tiny minority to persecute harass and kill at their whim, they, the devoutly Christian Afrikaner ruling elite, armed, trained and turned a generation of 18 year olds with white skins into the killers and persecutors of their black peers, on a scale that I still find quite incredible. Along the way they found time to kill off many of the very best South Africa had to offer, killing off almost an entire generation of future leaders, like the remarkable Neil Aggett, who I met not long before his terrible death after 70 days of torture in John Vorster square, and the equally remarkable Steven Biko.

I always found it a curious aspect of Christian belief that the Afrikaner Police who tortured and killed Biko and Aggett are Church going Christians who are assured an eternity in heaven, whilst the atheists Biko and Aggett who gave their lives in service to helping those less fortunate are at this very moment serving their time in the burning pits of hell.

But the book is not limited to doom and gloom and self-limiting stupidity. There are many humorous moments along the way with many inspirational occurrences to raise the spirits, and looking back on it through the retrospectometer, it supports a principle that extends far beyond my own story. That bad experience is a far more efficient teacher than good. And so in that sense, it is a book with a happy ending, being a tribute to the resilience of youth and proof that the human capacity for optimism generates its own unstoppable force.

Order Hard copy HERE (With postage £22 to anywhere in the world.)

Order e book copy for Kindle HERE

Order ebook for ipad from itunes HERE

Israel 1967.

2011-05-21T06:55:00.004+01:00

Is there anything more stomach turning than listening to an Israeli leader telling off an American President? Watching Netanyahu with his huge IQ rolling out the old platitudes for an embarrassingly docile Obama with his silly reference to the 1967 border is like watching a snake swallow a mouse.

The border change that came in 1967 following the so called '6 day war' saw Israel bombing and killing all around them with great success, including the American ship they attacked on June 8, 1967. The USS Liberty, flying the American flag in International waters, when IDF boats and planes launched a sustained attack on her, killing 34 and wounding 171 crew.

This attack provides a pretty clear indication of Israels position when it comes to American interference with Israels right to self defense by whatever means necessary, be it the seizure of neighboring land, or the bombing of American ships and killing of American Sailors.

If ever there was substance to the idea that pro Zionist influence runs a controlling hand over News media, it may be found in the total exclusion of the USS Liberty's attack by Israel from any mainstream press. Only the heroic defensive action by the American sailors prevented the ship and all who sailed on her going to the bottom of the Ocean under the weight of IDF fired missiles and torpedoes, which we can safely assume were paid for by American Israeli funding.

The surviving crew of the USS Liberty, led by Captain William McGonagle, must have been as surprised as we all are to see how quickly the entire event was denied. To this day, despite the heavyweight representations by high level US Navy leaders, there has never been any accountability for the attack and killing of American sailors by the IDF. This is because Israel can attack anyone with impunity, including American Navy ships. It seems strange that Obama would be the only recent American President unaware of this.

Following the swift burial of the USS Liberty story, survivors of the IDF attack on that ship presented a War Crimes report.

"The United States is obligated by law and by international treaty to investigate all reports of war crimes by or against United States Forces. This report obligates such an investigation. We are still waiting patiently for a reply."

Obama with his tremendous enthusiasm for promoting revenge on those who launch attacks on America may well be playing a double bluff with the brilliant Netanyahu. Perhaps this is his strategy all along. Does the US at last have a leader prepared to avenge the dead of the USS Liberty?
On 8th June it will be 44 years.

Here is the USS LIBERTY memorial website, by survivors of the IDF attack, in case you are unfamiliar with the events of 8 June 1967, some 40 km out to sea.

Selling news

2011-05-10T11:56:00.005+01:00

Increasingly since the advent of rolling live TV news, news agencies face the challenge of supplying demand for popular stories in a fiercely competitive market, where Political interests often require spinning of the subject matter. In this tripartite meeting place between profit making, reporting the facts and spinning the Government cheese, the one thing you can be sure of is that the news you are seeing places the traditionally understood model of journalistic integrity guiding honest reporting of events considerably below the other two.

The Lara Logan story demonstrates how far news agencies have strayed from the path of honest reporting quite well.

Remember just a few Months ago how captivated we all were with events in Cairo's Tahrir square. The brave protesters facing down the nasty Mubarak forces. How we cheered them on. Papers ran double page spreads showing where each group had their headquarters and where the toilets were and where the Human rights activists were. All jolly good reporting which we lapped up. Thousands of miles of newsprint sold. Tahrir square - right up there with Tiananmen. The tension grew and grew and wherever you went, anywhere in the world for that matter, the talk was all perfectly clear. Mubarak bad. Protesters good. Support change in Egypt. Then, overnight, Egypt disappeared from the news. The disappearance coincided with events following Mubarak's resignation announcement, 11 February, and in the time it takes to say 'Nothing to see here' Egypt's revolution was pushed down the pecking order with just a one line mention of a journalist being assaulted in the Cairo Square.

What happened to Lara Logan, South African born reporter for CBS, is of course not the news that suits the commercial interests of the broadcasters, placing itself so firmly at odds with the product on sale. Mubarak, established regime, bad - Protesters, change for the better, good.

Twenty five minutes after Lara Logan's horrific sexual attack by around 200 men, who committed acts so violent and debased that describing them as barbaric animals whose actions demonstrate with more clarity than any gifted writer could hope to achieve with the written word, the inherent vulgarity of their belief system, Egypt was no longer suitable front-page news.

The thought that for 25 minutes whilst the good men of Tahrir square repeatedly raped, bit chunks off, urinated and ejaculated over, and generally battered this woman, no one in the crowd saw fit to intervene, although some felt it appropriate to cheer and clap, while others photographed the attack on their cell phones.

Eventually, someone did step in. Gosh and darn. One of Mubarak's soldiers, who baton charged the raping protesters and carried her body, over his shoulder, out of further harms way. Almost certainly that mans actions saved Lara Logan's life.

That soldiers story would make a good feature, wouldn't it? Brave fellow who placed his own life at risk at a time when he was very much a villain of world peace. Well. of course not. He is/was a Mubarak employee and no one is interested in that story. (I wonder if Lara Logan ever found him with thanks.)

Even her own employers, CBS News downplayed the incident. Nothing to see here.

http://www.uncoverage.net/2011/02/lara-logans-rape-in-egypt-square-much-worse-than-reported/

News is a cynical business. I find its usually safe to assume 90% of what you see is split between Government cheese and broadcasters commercial interest. Coincidentally this is about the same percentage split Ronnie Johnson's formula for identifying idiots confirms.

Mothers day

2011-04-02T15:51:00.004+01:00

Here is my plan for Mothers day dinner, which comes with the following warning. If you are nervous about high cholesterol, butter rich tastes, then look away now.

I have 12 large Prawns from our local fishmonger. This will form the basis for the main course, to be presented in a chowder arrangement not dissimilar to the one I enjoyed in California's Paradise Cove.

My recipe (for 2) goes as follows:

Four baby onions. Chopped fine. Placed in a heated frying pan with good quality, large knob of French butter. When translucent, introduce an entire bulb of garlic, crushed in a press. Mix to a pleasant buttery consistency.

Eight Estima potatoes (Small buttery new potatoes). Chopped fine -with skin on. Introduced in a new pan with heated butter. Fried until cooked through. Add good amount of pancetta lardons. Heat through in the butter.

Base of onion and garlic added to a good sized saucepan. Add 250ml of single cream and a cup of milk. (about 250ml) Stir. Add the potato. Add the ham lardons. Season with white pepper.

Add tub (good quantity) of Mascarpone cheese. Stir in well. Should by now have produced a good cream coloured, creamy soup like base.

Boil two corn cobs for ten minutes. Allow to cool. Strip off the corn. Run through a food blender very briefly to create a corn mush. Careful not to make it too mushy. Aim for 1/4 the size for each kernel.

Clean the prawns - butterflied and halved. Flash fry the prawns in butter. Just literally a moment in the heat to turn their colour. If the prawns are overcooked, you might as well order a chinese.

Now add the corn mush to the cheesy potato base. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Sprinkle a good measure of freshly grated Parmesan over the top - to bond with the mascarpone in a fusion of cheesy goodness.

Add a sachet of bouquet garni and allow the pan to simmer at very low heat for 20 minutes.
Now add the prawns. and simmer the pan for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool in the pan for at least 3 minutes.

Serve in a bowl topped with fresh parsley.

Present with side dish of fresh bread and assorted steamed vegetables, in this case baby asparagus and purple sprouting broccoli stems, dressed with lemon, olive oil and a splash of Balsamic.

A nice dry white wine accompaniment is to be recommended. On this occasion, a vibrant Chablis.

Goes well with a few candles and piano based musical accompaniment, on this occasion we will rely on Brad Mehldau.

Ingredients:
12 large prawns
4 baby onions
bulb of garlic
250 ml single cream
Good quality butter
Milk
2 X corn on the cob
sachet of bouquet garni
tub of mascarpone
pancetta lardons
piece of parmesan for grating
fresh parsley
baby asparagus
purple sprouting broccoli
Fresh bread
lemon
Virgin olive oil
balsamic vinegar
bottle of (nice) dry white wine
candles (At least 2)
High quality piano based musical recording.

Televised football is fixed.

2011-03-09T16:07:00.003Z

For many years now the technology that has removed human error from officiating in other sports has been rejected by footballs administrators. Cricket has benefited tremendously from the team challenge system, where we see umpires decisions proven wrong with regularity. The same in tennis. Spectators love it because it serves the best interests of fair play.

There is only one reason why Televised footballs controllers resist this advance and it is the most obvious one. Almost every one of the big games I have watched this season have all been very obviously decided by incorrect refereeing decisions. More often than not it is the 23rd player on the field whose performance determines the outcome. The skills of a Messi or a Ronaldo having less bearing on a games outcome than that of the whistleblower.

There is no sustainable argument for preventing the third umpire approach with each team having a number of challenges to the referees decision. The only conclusion left to draw from this ongoing failure to implement the obvious, for many years since it first became technically feasible, is that its implementation would diminish the opportunity for officials to fix games.

You will know when Football games are no longer fixed when the TV referral system comes into play. Until then - Football remains the hijacked property of a corrupt self serving set of administrators who are getting away with murder - injecting the festering pus of their self serving corruption into the beautiful game.

Islamic prejudice

2011-01-05T13:22:00.005Z

Today's TIMES has an exclusive feature following a comprehensive ten year study by child protection experts of a repeated pattern of sex offending across Northern England and the Midlands. Where groups of older men approach vulnerable girls 11 - 16 on the street and groom them for sex. The girls are almost all white. The men are almost all Muslim Pakistanis.

The grooming usually begins with older groups of men befriending girls aged from 11 to 16 they meet on the street. In a typical scenario, the victim is initially treated as a girlfriend and showered with presents and attention. But the relationship quickly becomes more sinister as the abuser plies the child with drink and drugs before effectively pimping her out to friends and associates.
The worst cases involve young girls being moved around the country to be repeatedly abused.

There have been 56 successful prosecutions since 1997. Fifty three were Asians. Fifty of those were Muslims.

The real story in all of this is that despite this 'Tidal wave' of horrific abuse, the story and action against those involved has been subject to a dreadful prejudice. Fear of offending the Muslim community.

A report by the Derby safeguarding children board in the wake of last years multiple arrests said there should be greater consideration of 'whether the ethnic background and culture of the perpetrators had any bearing on their decision to take part in this activity'.

Does it seem remotely possible that believers in a religion whose prophet famously enjoyed sex with a 9 year old and whose holy book encourages the diminished importance of women through polygamy and the husbandly right to disciplinary spousal violence might in any way make believers more likely to participate in this abusive behavior or not?

If we accept their right to practice Islamic submission in our Non Muslim Country then surely we cannot impose our Non Islamic consideration on their right to properly express the behavioral consequences associated with and arising from this same belief. That would be an infringement on their freedom of religious expression. Surely.

This tale of Islamic influence in our multi-cultural society, of how young girls are harvested straight from the street in those British towns with a high percentage of Muslim population serves as a practical metaphor for what happens next. And talking about it is simply not allowed.

Sir Simon Cowell

2010-12-31T15:58:00.001Z

In light of the outraged and indignant flurry of objection to the mention of a Simon Cowell knighthood, I am moved to comment.

Simon Cowell is an unusually talented businessman. He has made millions upon millions on a simple premise.
You cant overestimate the public stupidity.

Personally I am in awe of his achievements. Making people stupid enough to pay you in direct proportion to their stupidity. It has a beautiful symmetry to it. He is a true revolutionary capitalist. He has exposed with a surgeons precision the nations desperate need to feel superior to those even less talented than themselves. Making stupid people perform for stupid people in a self perpetuating ritual of mutual intellectual and moral abuse whilst demonstrating a quite brilliant ability to turn every aspect of the dumbing process into a personally remunerative opportunity. Record Companies pay TV for promotional time for their acts. He gets the TV to pay him to monopolize air time for his sole use.

He embodies the spirit of capitalist greed better than anyone - expect perhaps the guy in the Michael Moore movie who put innocent kids in the Prison he owned for his personal gain- but give Simon a little more time and I'm sure he will come up with something even more tasteful than that. All in the name of ''Light relief'.
In terms of British excellence in a specific discipline - in this case Capitalist greed - he is without peer. Clearly, if Simon wanted to be made a peer, he could have made that happen with ease and no doubt he will decide when the timing is right for that to happen. He has the dumb vote and if we have learned anything from the Simon Cowell success story, it is the dumb who decide.

Spin gone mad

2010-12-21T14:38:00.003Z

Just watched the John Pilger movie 'The war you don't see.'

Of course it will really make no difference because nobody cares that we murdered all those Iraqi kids in cold blood. Why learn about the world when you can watch Eastenders and X Factor and pretend Blair is anything less than a mass murderer, immune to accountability through our collective indifference.

By way of explanation:

In the mid 80's I met Kaveh Golestan, the fabulous Iranian photo journalist who covered the Iran/Iraq war for many major publications including Time magazine. Over the next several years we enjoyed a good friendship. From 1980 until the end of the war in 1988 Kaveh would spend 6 months of the year in the war zone and 6 Months back in his Eton Terrace home, where I would join him and his lovely wife Hengameh for coffee, endless cigarettes and long conversations about the circumstances of his experiences on the Iranian front line. As a participant in war myself, I found our conversations to be especially insightful and rewarding. It was he who first made me aware of the Iranian military tactic of Human wave child sacrifice. Mothers so demented by the heady cocktail of Islamic belief and Nationalist rhetoric that they would drive their children to the front line to deliver them to certain death. (For a Paradise Key.)

One day in 1989 I found myself sitting in Kaveh's Eaton Terrace apartment when he asked me to review a book he intended to present for publication. I was seated in a drawing room and presented with a folder containing some180 Black and white pictures. These were to form a pictorial record telling the story in a way no words could ever do. Kaveh's photos had featured regularly in the worlds leading publications reporting on the war and he had perhaps the most extensive photographic record of that war, having invested 8 years of his life in pursuit of that very thing. Over the course of an hour, I turned page after page, reviewing the pictures he had chosen to tell the story of the Iran/Iraq war. By the time I reached the end I felt I had seen the most powerful and insightful record of war and the horror it represents that I had ever encountered. All told through the device of black and white photographs.

I was reminded of Lloyd George's famous quote to the Guardian editor during WW1.

"If people really knew the truth the war would stop tomorrow. But of course they don't know and cant know."

Unsurprisingly despite his enormous reputation and the incredible value of his work, Kaveh was not able to find any publisher willing to take on this extraordinary record of war.

"Nobody wants to know" is how he put it to me. And thats the sorry conclusion that I take from Pilger's excellent movie. Who cares. We live in an age where mass murdering ex-leaders collect tens of millions for consultancy whilst never being brought to account - because "Nobody wants to know."

Our collective dumbness - designer dumbness emanating from a highly evolved scientifically designed psychological model for mass manipulation by media - the success of which can readily be demonstrated by the popularity of dumb-market television like X Factor - means the likelihood of anything changing toward making criminal leadership accountable and working towards a better world for all - is somewhere between very low and lower still. Where there is no will its hard to see the way, and through the mind-numbing mind-altering techniques emanating from Edward Bernays onward, the will to think has been steadily eroded.

Designer delusion based on the understanding that a thought-disempowered conformist, living in fear of an almighty and under crippling economic pressure, cannot properly exercise independent thought which might challenge the controlling hegemony.

17 Million British people invest an emotional hour of their lives watching this X Factor show - but, outside of a very small minority, none care enough about Iraq and their complicity in events there to even bother finding out what really happened. I doubt even 1% of that number will watch Pilgers challenging documentary. Blair remains free and happy to party with Cliff Richard, who, we must assume is equally indifferent to the brand of christian fair play Blair visited on the lives of an entire generation of Iraqis.

Thank heavens for John Pilger.

Remembrance day

2010-11-08T14:19:00.006Z

The 11th minute of the 11th hour of the 11 day of the 11th Month this year leaves me with more mixed feeling than any previous year.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

Anyone familiar with this ceremony will recall the phrase 'The War to end all wars.'
Surely the point of remembrance of this war is that we do not forget the mistakes of History thereby repeating them.
The so called Great War is where men empowered by privilege and social position gave orders to men, from less fortunate backgrounds, forcing them to commit acts that fly in the face of every natural instinct.
What happened at locations such as the Somme truly beggars belief - where young boys standing in rotten feet in rotten boots with lice offending every orifice had to watch the first wave go over the top into 100% certain machine gun scything down death - and then follow orders as a second wave to do the same. And then a third wave. All of whom knew beyond all reasonable doubt that the orders they were following were lunacy. And those who refused were simply shot by their own officers.

These are not Fallen Hero's. These are victims of social crimes. Class crimes. Empowering unqualified men of unconvincing intelligence to knowingly execute hundreds of thousands of unfortunate victims of their callous disregard and respect for life.

There were many voices at the time pointing out the ridiculous aspect to paying for a few miles of front line with hundreds of thousands of lives. No one listened then.
The lesson we should take away from all of this is that War is horrible. It debases everyone involved.

There is no need for war at all but for one exception. When a country comes under attack from another bent on military destruction. In no other circumstance is War superior to diplomacy and the tools available to the diplomat, most notably through economic manipulation.

I have been horrified and fascinated by the WW1 stories in equal measure. The only sense that can come from remembering the sacrifices made on the bloody battlefields of the Western Front is that through their deaths we learn something to ensure that we don't repeat the same mistakes.

That we continue to make war since the sorry reflection following WW1 is self evident however my umbrage at this time of year lies with the hijacking of a noble memory - remembrance of victims of callous cruel execution in the name of an ideal not of the choosing of the vast majority - who were led sheep like into the conflict without the opportunity to exercise choice.
Translating their tragedy to muster support for the current wars is quite clearly in my view, revolting.

They were not fallen heroes who died to inspire a new generation to follow in their footsteps.
They were tragic victims of failed leadership. Duped by circumstance and by deliberate targeting along class lines into a slaughterhouse that should have given rise to many criminal charges, instead of the medal count that the likes of Hague went on to enjoy.

My remembrance on 11/11/11 this year, as it is every year, will be a moment of misty eyed silence for the victims. I will not be buying the fluffy Tommy doll with a string you pull that makes him say 'Over the top' or the ridiculous sound of silence CD that is as much an affront to the environment as it is to basic common sense. Or even listening to speeches by the social inheritors of Hague's mantle, like silly Prince Andrew in his ridiculous hat playing soldiering that has no connection or appreciation of the real tragedy that remembrance day represent.
The execution of almost an entire generation of youth in service to the vainglorious idiocy of a deluded few.

Christianity and Biko

2010-09-19T13:20:00.006+01:00

Stephen Biko died almost exactly 33 years ago. I am reminded that not much has changed since. The nature of man to behave with basic decency remains afflicted by the consequence of reliance on delusional belief as much today - with a pope swanning around London - as it did 33 years ago.
Once delusional belief is accepted - through the vehicle of blind faith - any instruction can be followed in the same way.
   To illustrate the point I am making - that delusional belief in invisible forces corrupts the innate humanity of the individual by acting at odds with the basic intuitive means by which the individual connects with his own morality - and is therefore unhealthy at best and murderously dangerous the rest of the time, here is a tale of two christians. Church going believers of the highest order.

   Gideon Nieuwoudt and Harold Snyman.

In August of 1977, relying on a law devised by christians of the highest order - The Terrorism Act no 83 of 1967, which gave practicing christians (and only practicing christians) the legal right to arrest and detain anyone without any accountability, these chaps in their uniforms of the SOuth African Police picked up former medical student Stephen Biko - a 30 year old writer, consciousness leader and atheist. Biko was interrogated in a police cell (6-1-9) for 22 hours hours, wherein he was pummeled senseless. His skull cracked leaving him in a coma state. Obviously no contradiction here with christian belief. Beaten to an inch of his life, biblically named Gideon and his buddy Harold then thought it a good idea to drive the battered Biko 1,500 kilometers to a Police hospital. Clearly there were no suitable medical facilities closer. So they put him into the back of a land rover, naked, a nice christian touch in the circumstances, and bleeding with a major head injury for a 1,500 km drive across the country. Anyone who has been in the back of a police land rover in the 70's will know the degree of discomfort represented here. Its little more than a metal box.

Biko died of his injuries shortly after arriving at the Hospital in Pretoria. The Land Rovers speed of around 50 miles an hour means the journey would have taken at least 20 hours. A crucifiction would have been a considerably more christian way to kill a man, but not for these christians. I cannot imagine the nature of a man that would put another man into the back of a metal box - a man already beaten to an inch of his life with a cracked skull - and drive him across a country, naked, knowing that he would experience the most dreadful agonies before his certain death. What kind of belief system could turn any man so against the natural order as to make him debase his humanity in this way?

To demonstrate that delusional belief in one thing encourages it in another, these devout christians when called on the explain why this chap was dead, said he had killed himself by going on hunger strike. Not even honest enough to stand up and express the truth of their actions. In the subsequent Police enquiry the Attorney General of the Eastern Cape, another devout practicing christian, ruled that there was no case to answer for officers involved in the arrest and detention of Biko. During the trial it was claimed that Biko's head injuries were the result of a self-inflicted suicide attempt, not those of any beatings. Believe one delusion and its so easy to carry on in the same vein.
   So that was that. Black atheist kills himself. His own fault. Nothing to see here.

This is one small illustration of why delusional belief is not a harmless right to be enjoyed free from any persecution.

And on a happy note of conclusion, Harold Snyman died in 1997 of lung cancer. He is now in heaven where all christians go for eternity in paradise, many with an option on virginal pleasures. Meanwhile Steve Biko continues to rot in the fiery pits of hell that is the christian message to all non-believers.

You have just got to love the christian way.

God is the truth.

2010-09-15T13:21:00.009+01:00

In reply to a Facebook message from Ursela advising me that 'God is the truth'.

If god is almighty and the creator of everything and is responsible for the placement of everything in the celestial order; then he made all the little animals. And all the people too. And he made cancer. And he made the mosquito. And he made Sara Palin's brain. And he made mutating illnesses that paralyze and leave people howling in pain for years as they scream their way to sorry death. And if god see's everything and he has almighty powers to do anything. Then god willingly and knowingly allows catholic priests to serially bugger little boys in his name. Its not as if he doesn't know about this stuff because he knows everything and its going on in his own house, which could not come to pass without his approval. Otherwise it wouldn't be happening. So this almighty god is clearly responsible for a lot of nasty stuff. Whereas. I am not. I differ from your god in a few small but significant ways.
   I am a happy little sailor through the universal hand that I have been dealt by complete random evolutionary procedure where I may or may not become the best human being I can possibly be. That's what I try to be on a daily basis. I don't require anyone to endorse my belief. And I don't seek to recruit anyone to conform to my will. I don't threaten anyone who fails to bow to my will with a life of damnation and I don't insult anyone's basic intelligence by claiming to be all around and omnipotent. If 'I see my brother standing by the road with a heavy load' I will always try to show kindness.
   These few qualities quite clearly place me many layers above this malicious and unkind god of which you speak, who is responsible for atrocities so gross even speaking about them diminishes me.

I understand the need for a god. The key is 'need.' Your need to believe in a god. And I can see the temptation arising from the promise of a heavenly ever after. But really this arrangement only works with blind faith. Once common sense breaks through - the argument falls over.
   Historically god is a coping mechanism invented by man in times of uncertainty as a one size fits all placebo. Sadly this basic need and its remedy has developed into a sinister underworld where the church and its believers have become little more than an exploitative mafia - preying on the needy and vulnerable for the benefit of the few. The only thing shielding any believer from this realty is. Blind Faith. And its not called Blind Faith for nothing.

And in reply - Ursela advised me that God didn't make all the bad things. That was the Devil. Which reminded me that I had forgotten that the devils stuff was still being used in the agenda, but replied none-the-less.

Ursela. I don't mean to alarm you however I can assure you that I can make up far more credible tales of good and bad demonstrating the duality of human nature and a set of rules to live by than the bible or the quran. And this is not a skill unique to myself. There are many writers above a certain level who can invent infinitely superior story lines to those two books.
   Look at L. Ron. Hubbard. The most published writer in the world. Gets divorced - needs some money quick - writes a book called Dianetics - identifies that people need answers - so he sells in a designer model - and presto. New religion with Millions of people paying in their money and believing the fairy story. Supply and demand. There is a need for a solid belief. And that demand is serviced- cynicaly and with an ever decreasing degree of credibility by big religion.

The fairy story about the devil and the other guy is just not well constructed. Any informed debate looking to prove the mechanics of the argument will fall on its face trying. Its full of holes - from the garden of eden apple story, to the virgin birth, to the idea of original sin. There simply is no devil just as there clearly is no god. There are avenues of belief which convince individuals that god exists and that a devil exists. This is a response to a need. It is not logically realistic proposition.

There is no need for any argument to prove something doesn't exist. That would be ridiculous. Proof of somethings existence relies on proof that it exists.
I cant say to you - there are fifteen fairies at the bottom of my garden - and expect you to believe that, unless I can service the burden of proof. The onus is not on you to disprove the fairies in my garden. That would be ridiculous. If I make an assertion without a shred of tangential evidence in support - then it is a delusion. I am attempting a deceit. I am trying to make you believe their are fifteen fairies at the bottom of my garden and in so doing I am attempting to deceive you. It follows that if I am prepared to deceive you on this matter - I would attempt to deceive you on any other number of matters - because I rely on delusion to promote my belief. This is one of several dangerous elements that allowing blind faith to lead you to belief in an invisible god/devil introduces. If you believe that delusion - you have agreed a process of acceptance of things based on delusion and this means you will believe more or less anything. It is dishonesty at its most cynical because it requires you to actually believe the lie.

Human nature and the workings of the brain encourage acceptance of that which we most need to believe. The process is driven by the need. We adopt a 'The truth is what I choose to believe' approach. And that becomes 'the truth'. So you believe a powerful omnipresent good god controls everything - and a bad equally powerful other god - who is called the devil - counteracts all the stuff the good one does. And that is your truth. But it is not a reliable truth. Just one that you have elected - through the device of blind faith - to place your belief in. I know people who believe they have fairies living at the bottom of their garden. They believe. They truly believe. But that doesn't make it so.

Your previous comment about scientists implying that evolution means god was an ape' is best addressed by the all powerful all seeing, quite brilliant commentator - Frank Zappa.

Herewith - from the book of Zappa.
Album: 27. Side: 2. Song:5
Dumb all over.

Whoever we are, wherever we're from,
we shoulda noticed by now our behaviour is dumb
And if our chances expect to improve
it's gonna take a lot more than tryin' to remove
the other race or the other whatever
from the face of the planet altogether
They call it "The Earth" which is a dumb kinda name
but they named it right 'cause we behave the same
We are dumb all over
Dumb all over, yes we are, dumb all over,
near and far, dumb all over,
black 'n white, people, we is not wrapped tight
And nerds on the left, nerds on the right
Religious fanatics on the air every night,
sayin' the bible tells the story
and makes the details sound real gory
about what to do if the geeks over there
don't believe in the book we got over here
You can't run a race without no feet
And pretty soon there won't be no street
for dummies to jog on or doggies to dog on
Religious fanatics can make it be all gone
I mean it won't blow up and disappear,
it'll just look ugly for a thousand years
You can't run a country by a book of religion
Not by a heap or a lump or a smidgeon
of foolish rules of ancient date,
designed to make you all feel great
while you fold, spindle and mutilate
those unbelievers from a neighbouring state
To arms, to arms
Hooray! That's great, two legs ain't bad
Unless there's a crate they ship the parts to mama in
For souvenirs: two ears (Get down)
Not his, not hers but what the hey
The good book says, "It's gotta be that way"
But their book says, "Revenge the crusades"
With whips 'n chains and hand grenades
Two arms, two arms
Have another and another
Our Cod says, "There ain't no other"
Our Cod says, "It's all ok"
Our god says "This is the way"
It says in the book, "Burn and destroy"
And repent and redeem and revenge and deploy
and rumble thee forth to the land of the unbelieving scum on the other side
'Cause they don't go for what's in the book and that makes 'em bad
So verily we must choppeth them up and stompeth them down
Or rent a nice French bomb to poof them out of existence
while leaving their real estate just where we need it to use again
for temples in which to praise our god,
'cause he can really take care of business
And when his humble TV servant
with humble white hair and humble glasses
and a nice brown suit
and maybe a blonde wife who takes phone calls,
tells us our god says it's ok to do this stuff, then we gotta do it
'Cause if we don't do it we ain't "Gwine up to hebbin"
Depending on which book you're using at the time
Can't use theirs, it don't work, it's all lies, gotta use mine
Ain't that right?
That's what they say
Every night, everyday
Hey, we can't really be dumb if we're just following god's orders
Well let's get serious, god knows what he's doin'
He wrote this book here and the book says
"He made us all to be just like him"
So, if we're dumb, then god is dumb
and maybe even a little ugly on the side
Dumb all over, a little ugly on the side
Dumb all over, a little ugly on the side

Andrews Fish Pie recipe.

2010-07-16T10:25:00.007+01:00

An easy to prepare meal for 4. About 40 minutes preparation time. And 45 minutes cooking time.

Best prepared whilst playing the '7 Bach Meditations' album which infuses the process with positive energy. (View here)

Raw Ingredients:
Fish:           Use 3 different pieces. Try - Salmon, haddock and cod.
Shellfish:    A goodly amount of king prawns.
Potatoes
Onion
Garlic
Bacon
Flour
Butter
Cheddar cheese
Parmesan
Leek
Shitake Mushrooms
Milk

1. Chop 4 potatoes into small cubes. Really small. Add to pot of boiling water. Simmer for ten minutes. Drain and put to one side on plate.
2. Chop one onion into tiny cubes. Clean one entire bulb of garlic and press into crushed pile. Heat frying pan with butter. Shallow fry the onion and garlic until translucent. When ready, add the potato and mix evenly. Place on plate and put to one side. This will form the bottom and top layers of the dish.
3. Slice shitakes into fillet style pieces. Shallow fry in butter until tender. Put to one side on plate.
4.   Grill four pieces of bacon until very well cooked and crispy. Allow to cool. Chop up into tiny pieces. Put to one side on plate.
5. Use frying pan with shallow base of butter to heat the prawns. Don't overcook. Just turn in the butter long enough to change color. Just a few minutes. Place on plate and put to one side.
6.   Heat saucepan with enough milk to boil the fish parts. Add the fish to the simmering milk and leave to cook for about 5 minutes - until fish looks reasonably cooked through. Then extract fish in colander while reserving the fishy milk for later use.
7.   Prepare your roux. Butter in saucepan - carefully add flour until you have a nice thick roux. Dont be shy - be sure to make enough.
8.   Into your roux, carefully introduce some of the reserved fishy milk. Until you have a nice looking quantity of creamy looking fishy smelling off-white sauce.
9.   Grate a pile of cheddar (don't be shy quantity) and a quarter of that amount of parmesan into two plates.
10.   Chop leek (using common sense) and boil for 5 minutes. Place on plate to one side.

And now arrange the ingredients into the Cooking bowl. Use a proper oven bowl of reasonable depth and width for purpose.

1.   I add about 1 third of the potato/onion/garlic to the base of the cooking dish, pressing it down to form a base layer.
2. Onto that - I place a layer of prawns. About one quarter of the total amount reseved.
3.   Over that Place the milk boiled fish. Spread evenly. Over that place the rest of the prawns.
4.   Over the top of the prawn layer - evenly spread the shitakes and the leek.
5.   Now pour the roux/fishy milk mix into the bowl, covering everything inside until it reaches the level of the mushroom/leek top.
6.   Now mix the chopped bacon into the remaining potato/onion/garlic mush and spread liberally over the top of the dish.
7.   Now spread the grated cheeses over the top of that.

Note: I don't use salt at all at any stage in the preparation. But cracked black pepper goes well with the prawn layer and over the top of the cheese.

Place in oven - at around 170 degrees - and cook for 45 minutes. Top should be browned off.

Serve with a Fresh baguette, a cherry tomato and green leaf salad, and, preferably a chilled white wine.

Viva Vuvuzela.

2010-06-15T10:03:00.003+01:00

Bring me my Vuvuzela by Julias Malemo.

Firstly, if you look at who is criticising the Vuvuzela you will see it is only one very small sector. And there is a very good reason for that. White people hate anything the Black man does to advance his cultural interests. The Vuvuzela is a part of our culture.

2010 is our World Cup. Africa's first world cup and we are in charge. We call the shots here. Why do you think you can hold the games in Africa and then tell us what to do. Those days are over now. I say to those who criticize our African ways 'If you don’t like you can go. Nobody here is forcing you to watch our games.'

... It may be true that the Vuvuzela is loud. So loud it causes permanent damage to hearing. Good. It is loud because it is strong.
... It may be true that the saliva build up in a Vuvuzela will drip out of the end.
... And it may also be true that this dripping saliva will frequently fall onto the person in front and below.
I wont deny that many of the people blowing Vuvuzelas have AIDS, but it would be discriminatory to object to have AIDS rich saliva dribbled onto you at a football game.

In some Countries where football has been played for many years, the fans of football have devised orderly means by which to register support for their teams as well as means to register disapproval for the opposition. To support their team these fans often use song. Choirs of voices singing well considered musical pieces. To put off opposition they often chant derisory verse, usually with some topical reference that incorporates wit. We in South Africa do not consider this discrimination appropriate. The Vuvuzela deals with this approach to viewing football in two ways. Firstly the Vuvuzela does not discriminate between the teams. Neither the one you support nor the one you oppose will know the difference because one loud constant note is all you get. You see how far ahead of you we are here?
And secondly, the one loud constant note serves the additional purpose of drowning out any of this singing nonsense whereby smart-ass westerners try and impose some superiority complex on us. They think they are so clever with their singing and so superior. Well - we have the Vuvuzela to put them in their place. I would like to see Liverpool Football club try and sing their song of 'walking on' in South Africa. Then they would understand the power of the Vuvuzela.

Now let us consider these football players, like Ronaldo and Evra, with their disgraceful criticisms of the Vuvuzela. Who do they think they are. It is our world cup and if they don’t like it they should go now. The same is true of the whining managers. If they cant manage properly then they should go now. Not blame the Vuvuzela for their incompetence.

The Vuvuzela is a symbol of our Country. It represents the will of the people and it enables every South African to be equal. It requires no preferential skill to play and it makes the same noise for everyone. Nothing symbolises the new South Africa more appropriately than the Vuvuzela. The great leveller serving notice that the Black man has found his voice in Africa.

Do not bring your Western criticism to our door. Remember you are only here for as long as we let you. You don’t like the Vuvuzela? Then you must go now.

Stadium naming policy

2010-05-21T10:03:00.001+01:00

There are 10 stadiums being used for the 2010 FIFA world cup. Two of the stadiums represent contentious naming policy.

Consider the Peter Mokaba Stadium.

Named after one of the renowned sons of the struggle and emancipation of South Africa against the apartheid regime, the Peter Mokaba Stadium holds much historical significance in South Africa. Peter Mokaba was born and bred in Polokwane and was renowned for his fighting spirit and for his inpirational leadership.

Pete's inspirational leadership is not always regarded with such reverance by those who abhor racism - or by those who believe AIDS is a sexually transmitted disease that kills. According to Jacob Dlamini, a renowned South African journalist writing in Business Day newspaper Mokaba was a "a confessed apartheid agent and a man as corrupt as they came." He was also the man whose business plan revolved around singing 'Kill the Farmer, kill the Boer' whilst simultaneously denying the existance of Aids, despite the fact that it would kill him at age 43. Surely a case of 'dumb and dumber.'

Then there's the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban. Moses of course was a lifelong communist, trained as a terrorist and went on to lead Umkhonto we Sizwe, a terrorist organisation, in a bloody conflict, responsible for many deaths including some of their own members. Whilst these two qualities, communism and terrorism, may have their historically redeeming merits, surely naming a sporting arena after him is inappropriate, especially if anyone considering playing there should come from a communist/terrorist victim background. How for instance, if America progress in the tournament, would world leaders like Barrack Obama, attend a game at a stadium named after a man whose politics represent such an anti American poisition?

I wonder how many little kids attending games at these stadiums will pause to reflect on the inspirational example shown
'Mummy when I go grow up I want to be just like Peter - and Kill White farmers and deny the existance of Aids, or if that's beyond my means can I just be a communist terrorist. Please mum.'

David Cameron

2010-04-26T17:23:00.001+01:00

‘Children are our future – teach them well and let them lead the way’ wrote Michael Masser.

I think this sentiment is universal. Any parent would want the best possible education for their children.

Not everyone can afford private education. That's economic reality. I cannot imagine any scenario where a parent unable to afford a top flight private education for their child would refuse their child the opportunity were it presented to them. Can you?

NO responsible parent would deliberately, knowingly and willfully under-educate their child. Or would they?

Imagine being in a position where funding a private education would not make the slightest dent to your multi-million pound trust fund, but denying your children the opportunity for a better education because it is at odds with your political ambitions.

David Cameron’s ambition demanded that very sacrifice from his state-school children. A man who put his own career ahead of his children’s education.

Whats up with that? If he turns over his own children to advance his career, what do you think he will do with the Prime Ministers office?

Anika Smit.

2010-03-19T17:54:00.017Z

Today Anika Smit, 17, was buried in Pretoria. Last week, 11 March, she was killed and raped in her own room. Her arms were cut off from the elbow and taken by the perpetrators. There have been no subsequent arrests.

I was so horrified by this story that I sent it to all and sundry. No mention to be found in British press. I wrote to the Guardian and the Daily Mail.

Correspondence with South African friends revealed a consistent trend 'This is not news. It happens every day.' One correspondent told me that racially motivated murder in South Africa since the end of Apartheid exceeds 300,000. More than 45-1 higher than racially motivated deaths during apartheid.

Crime in South Africa is a real and present issue. But the crime in Anika Smits case goes beyond anything that we can relate too. This does not conform to any familiar criminal profile. It is a uniquely South African variant. I will not go into the complexities relating to tribalism here - Polygamous arrangements - sexual incontinence that effectively gives men rights of rape - beyond saying the damaging consequences of maintaining manifestly unfair arrangements in the name of tradition is a recipe for disaster. The danger in allowing these barbaric acts to continue without redress should be self evident although judging by the reaction of the South African Government this is not the case.

Considering these uniquely perverse crimes - raping and hacking body parts off people who are still alive - the better to make muti with - the issue of Apartheid is presented as a contributory cause. I remember growing up in Apartheid South Africa. I remember well the British approach of 'No normal sport in an abnormal society.' One I wholeheartedly agreed with then. As I do now.

This is not a time for the world to be normalising South Africa's collapse into tribal barbarism and lawlessness by enjoying games of football in Stadiums whose cost cannot possibly be reconciled with the decayed lifestyles of South Africa's dispossessed majority even as their falsely elected new class of cuntocrats swan around in the accoutrements of obscene wealth.

No normal sport in an abnormal society. Why did that make sense in 1976 and not now? How many South Africans consider theirs to be a normal society?

Playing games of soccer in the shadow of 17 year old girls being raped and mutilated, whose killers might be the person sitting next to you at the games, smiling and acting normal, is not the way the issue of barbarous decline in South Africa is best addressed. It maintains the delusional precept of a 'rainbow nation' thriving on 'the miracle of Mandela.' I doubt Anika Smits father, as he buries what remains of his butchered daughter today, will have much interest in the World Cup.

I certainly will find it difficult watching Dave Beckham swish around the England camp promoting football and talking up our chances against Germany knowing how far apart his world, the one his values represent, and the reality of South Africa's delusion are. This is not a normal society. Leaders like Zuma and Malema are not credible and one can but wonder how the legacy of Mandela arrived here in 16 short years. Continuing unchecked at this rate, in another 16 years time there will be no opportunity for this subject to be raised again. President Malema will have made sure if it.

For me these games will be remembered as The Anika Smit Games. RIP.

Fallen.

2010-02-15T08:59:00.007Z

'And ye shall know them by their words'.

And here is one great word. 'Fallen.'

Instead of describing the process of taking (mostly) underprivileged young men from low-income under-educated backgrounds and using the bait of three meals a day, free clothing and the opportunity for playing with guns as a device for maintaining an optimal defense budget before putting them in 'harms way' which might involve having a piece of searing hot shrapnel penetrating the left side of the head before turning the brain into a mushy by-product of traumatic impact, or even experiencing the blast of a landmine underfoot as the explosive rips away the bottom half of the body, or indeed any in the number of ways that young men sent to fight wars they don't understand based entirely on words they are fed by unscrupulous agenda driven recruiters serving the purposes of budget driven government ministers on an upward career curve, might find themselves being brutally separated from body parts, if not from life itself, for what it is. Gruesome bloody death, what these young men get in exchange for this 'sacrifice' is the word 'fallen.'
They are not victims of a system that empowers a rich minority by using the lower class as cannon fodder for their various empowerment agendas, but instead they are 'fallen heroes'.

For 'fallen' read 'another victim of the business of war.' They are not fallen. They are brutally killed almost entirely because they come from low income backgrounds.

The implication with this word is that the worst that can happen to a soldier is to become 'fallen.' That doesn't sound so bad now. Does it. And the immediate word association is 'hero. So if perchance you do become 'fallen', you will also become a hero. Another good reason not to worry at all.

Beware those who rely on the word 'fallen' to describe KIA.

A nasty piece of work.

2010-01-05T18:22:00.008Z

'If god did not exist it would be necessary to invent him' said Voltaire many years ago.

But if god does exist and he is the all-powerful all-seeing deity responsible for everything, then it is abundantly clear that he is a pretty nasty piece of work.

The majority of the Earths population live in spirit-killing-poverty. Young men, heirs to Millions, choose to blow up their underpants in praise of god. Believers throughout history have done more to defile and debase the human condition than any other single cause.

Anyone possessed with omnipotence who chooses to destroy and debase the human condition in the way that mankind's record presents as self-evident can only be described as 'a nasty piece of work.'

Therefore, if god exists he is a 'nasty piece of work.' It clearly makes perfect sense that we should believe in him, and even more so that we should persecute those who are unwilling to submit to this same principle.

How fortune works.

2009-12-08T10:02:00.001Z

This farmer had only one horse, and one day the horse ran away. The neighbors came to condole over his terrible loss.
The farmer said, "What makes you think it is so terrible?"

A month later, the horse came home - bringing with her two beautiful wild horses. The neighbors became excited at the farmer's good fortune. Such lovely strong horses!
The farmer said, "What makes you think this is good fortune?"

The farmer's son was thrown from one of the wild horses and broke his leg. All the neighbors were very distressed. Such bad luck!
The farmer said, "What makes you think it is bad?"

A war came, and every able-bodied man was conscripted and sent into battle. Only the farmer's son, because he had a broken leg, remained. The neighbors congratulated the farmer.
"What makes you think this is good?" said the farmer.

THIS IS IT

2009-11-05T05:34:00.003Z

Watched the latest in the shameless attempts to recover losses arising from Michael Jacksons drug overdose.

My favorite 3 bits:

1. Where he says to the auditioning dancer 'Your a lot more successful than me. I am 250 million in the hole and I have a 180 thousand dollar a month drug habit.'

2. WHere he says to his assistant, 'I need another 6 cameras on my rehearsal today so I can spend the night practicing narcicism with the man in the mirror while I get hopped up on goof balls.'

3. Where the AIG management guy says 'Sure we stand to lose 50 million now he's dead, but wait, what if we knock up a cheesy reinvention of his reality, call it THIS IS IT and sell it to the fans, who are so desperate they will buy anything. I wonder if Sony would like to get behind profiting off this?'

The legacy and inspiration is of a broken man without self esteem who squandered a billion dollars largely on ridiculous bric-a-brac and brutal cosmetic surgery, died 250 million in debt and embodies the qualities of vanity, selfishness and overall denial of self acountibility that are entirely at odds with an evolved spirit who incarnates to learn and grow.

A great singer perhaps. An inspirational human being? Hmmmmm......

Gauntanemo Bay living memorial.

2009-10-20T13:48:00.012+01:00

Andrews Guantanemo Bay business plan.

Objective: Create a business model to generate $2 hundred million using the resource of Guantanemo Bay by identifying existing demand, harnessing that demand and turning it into a functioning business.

The participants:

1. World Heritage organisation.
2. International War Crimes Court.
3. The Guantanemo business fund.

Step one:
Create the 'Gauntanemo Bay living memorial'. Designated as a World heritage site, Guantanemo Bay Living Memorial will be a magnificent glass structure adjoining the current building - metaphorically demonstrating the importance of transparency in politics. This structure will readily accommodate 2 million visitors annually. An architectural design encompassing 24 glass cells through which a tourist walkway weaves.

Visitors will enter a visitors centre, much like the gateway for Robben Island visitors in Cape Town. The facility will be open 24 hours per day, 365 days per year - metaphorically demonstrating that evil never rests.

In the visitors centre, guests can view informative displays preparing them for the sights that lie ahead. Including statistics demonstrating the extent of the atrocities committed by the inmates as well as the findings of the International War Crimes court.

Upon entering the facility itself, visitors will follow a glass pathway that weaves through 24 cells. They can stop and view the cells in-mates for no more than 5 minutes per cell and will be allowed to take photographs.

The 24 cells will start with the lowest, least well known of the war criminals, working up to the show piece cells at the very end of the tour. These last 2, numbers 1 and 2 in the countdown, will be occupied by what will almost certainly become the biggest crowd pullers. The two B's. Blair and Bush.

Step 2:

While the construction is underway, an International War Crimes Court, empowered for this purpose, convenes to try the most obvious War Criminals of the past decade, those responsible for the Million deaths in Iraq and the atrocities committed against the Afghani people, not to mention the atrocities they have committed against their their own countrymen in America and Britain.

This Court will identify the worst 24 offenders, handing down 24 life sentences accordingly and also rating them from 1 to 24 in terms of the extent of their culpability. Obviously Blair and Bush will compete for cells 1 and 2, although there will be many shoe-ins for others similarly well qualified. Rumsfeld, Cheney and so on.

These top 24 war crims will serve their life terms in the glass cells of Gauntanemo Bay living memorial correctional facility, on display 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Step 3:

With diligent marketing and a little help from the Cuban tourist board, a target of 2 million visitors in year one is entirely realistic. Given the quality of the spectacle, an entrance fee of $100 is appropriate. Door receipts would therefore be some $200 Million in year one, with tremendous growth potential in subsequent years as the Cuban tourist board exploit the associated possibilities of having so many visitors to their Island. An annual Rock concert featuring Queen and friends could further bolster the funds coffers.
Amortised over a ten year period this revenue should be more than enough to underwrite the cost of the trial and the building of the 'Gauntanemo Bay living memorial' or the GBLM as it will be branded.

Once the 'Big 24' are made accountable and put on display in this way, it will be a lot harder for future politicians to get away with the dreadful abuses of power that characterise this sorry lot.

The music franchise:

Each cell will feature powerful surround sound speakers connected to a Juke-box front end, where visitors will be able to pay a fee to choose a song. For an additional fee they will be able play the song louder. In this way viewers can provide a suitable soundtrack for their experience in the knowledge that they will be helping the inmates karmically redress the weight of the sinful past. For instance, visitors to Mr. Blairs cell could elect the Sex Pistols 'Your so pretty' and have it played at super loud volume during his prayer time. A family whose infant son might have been incinerated by one of Mr. Bush's Iraqi missile's could play Don Macleans 'Wonderful Babies' each time they visit, ensuring the point is made to Mr. Bush regarding the connection between his decisions and dead children.
The musical directors position would go to a renowned musical authority, versed in popular song as well as karmic balance, whose appointment would establish a library of music per Juke-box, per cell, to cater for any specific visitor requirements and make the experience the best it can be for all parties. This office would rotate on an annual basis to ensure the inmate to not become overly familiar with any particular musical trend.

A family day out

For children, visiting GBLM will provide a living History lesson as well as an insight into how the world decided to start making mass killers who hide behind God and profit driven political-office accountable for their actions. An important lesson for any youngster looking at the world today.

Visitors will be able to see the look of remorse - or not as the case may be - on the faces of the inmates. Seeing this might provide a nice degree of closure for the family members of the Million plus dead because of Bush and Blairs ego.

Would you visit Cuba and pay $100 to see that?

My Telegraph subscription.

2009-09-30T14:35:00.006+01:00

For the past 20 years I have renewed an annual subscription with the Telegraph. Its delivered to my door at around 7.20 am every day by arrangement with the local newsagent. For many a year now I would start my day with a bath at 7.30 am where I would read the sport pages of the Telegraph, migrating from there for the morning cappuccino where I would read the main section of the paper. 30 minutes each day of worthy time investment.

There would always be some piece of journalism that would make me remark on how excellent the Telegraph was. Some story that made me the richer for knowing and enabled me to enjoy the pleasure of sharing with others in the knowledge that I was disseminating information for the betterment of all. An emissary for the highest good if you will. In many a conversation whilst traveling abroad I would refer to the standard of writing in the Telegraph as one of the great things about living in Britain.

But in the past few years I have become aware of change. Change for the worse. The stories frequently appear to me no longer the product of independent thought. Rather I began to notice a trend. An absence of what I felt were the big news items in the world and a preponderance of trivia. Yes MP's expenses are interesting - but not nearly interesting enough to fill page after endless page with whilst making no reference to far more serious abrogations of Ministerial responsibility - like those MP's responsible involving Britain in sick cruel and costly wars with Countries who represent no threat to Britain - or indeed anyone other than themselves. I am far more interested in Blair's accountability as a hypocritical lying Bush-licking war-monger than some nobody-MP-from-nowhere fiddling a mobile phone call.

In a nutshell - the Telegraph no longer presents news that holds my interest. In cow-towing to prevailing commercial and political pressures, the editor and his team have distanced themselves from my interest whilst simultaneously offending my sense of fairness in regard to misrepresenting what is important. Upgrading trivia in the name of PC and commercial interest over real and relevant issues of the day.

Why then should I sign up for another year of paying the £300 plus that it costs for me to see the Telegraph appear in my hallway each morning? If I cant change the way they operate with my words at least I can change it with my consumer dollar - the most powerful force for change known to man.

All that remains now is the familiarity argument. For so long now I have loved the morning paper that the thoughts of waking up to find the hallway without that image - the folded broadsheet, is a little unnerving. But my decision is made. And the deadline for renewal is today.

The Telegraph do not miss a trick though, and someone there noticed my failure to send in the annual payment. Yesterday a well spoken young lady called to remind me that the renewal deadline was fast approaching. I explained that I was not renewing because I was 'disenchanted with the news.'
Information which blunted her sales pitch considerably.

So an era for me has ended. No more Telegraph delivered to my door. I don't imagine this separation will be easy. We have been so close for so long, but I stand determined. My place in the relationship has been taken for granted and I have become no more than a patsy. Something has to change and this is it.

I will let you know how things work out.

Scientific proof that Evolution is a lie

2009-09-06T16:30:00.003+01:00

I received an e-mail directing me to a page that offered 'Scientific proof that Evolution is a lie' the conclusion of which proves the existence of a great and merciful God. The sheer weight of ignorance that accompanies the argument prompted me to post a message - which I enjoyed writing so much I thought I would share it here.

.........

Is this the same gracious and merciful God who created dinosaur fossils to test our faith or the kind and benevolent deity who created Sarah Palin in his image so that the terminally retarded can experience the certainty of superiority, or just the one you rely on to prolong your inability to become self accountable. Stop being lazy. Learn how to read and then start reading and learning. Stop deluding yourself that the divisive and harmful belief system you promote is anything other than a failed and exposed device by which the greedy enslave the ignorant to serve their purposes.
Belief in your 'one and only God' has killed more people on this planet than any other single cause. It is not a charitable system that offers upliftment for the dispossessed or peace and brotherhood to all. It is a philosophy that guarantees death. Death by the Billion since the onset of the age of religion.
Enough already. Its one thing to be so desperate that you have no where else to turn and in your vulnerability become susceptible to the cynical overtures of Religions salesmen with their promises of 'Eternal life' and 'Hellfire for non believers for all eternity' but it is quite another to maintain this foolishness past early adolescence. The only excuse is plum laziness. Too darn shiftless to get your brain working. Here's a simple road map.

God = division = condemnation = persecution = war = death. Therefore God = death.

Promoting belief in a omnipotent-omniscient yet invisible God is akin to waging war.
Isn't it time you allowed the evolutionary process to help your brain enable escape from the shackles and bonds of your moronic denial based belief system?
Its not that hard. Just look around you, at all the beauty the surrounds you. Life is beautiful if you choose life. Beauty is everywhere. The world is a beautiful place and it would be better still if you would cease and desist your misguided efforts in fomenting war and conflict by disseminating the same exposed nonsense that has been plaguing the planet since the onset of blind faith and in this way you will eventually become a human-being worthy of being called human as opposed to carrying on your praise of ignorance in the Church of the dumb fuck.

Gods work is done. Mans time has come. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

270 Vs 290. Megrahi VS Rogers III.

2009-08-25T14:35:00.010+01:00

Whoever would have thought the release of a sick old man from a Scottish prison could provoke such outrage in America, the basis of which appears to be directed toward the moral character of a man involved in bringing down a plane with 270 innocent civilians on board. 270 innocents whose lives were snuffed out so cruelly in so cowardly and unjustified a manner.

I am reminded of events preceding the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 on 21 December 1988. I refer of course to the other civilian plane crash that occurred just 5 months before, on 3 July, 1988, when 290 innocent civilians, 66 of whom were children, died.

This is the day a guided missile cruiser, the USS Vincennes, fired upon an Iranian Airbus, Flight 655, operating an established route between Teheran and Dubai, while flying inside Iranian airspace.

This event occurred just weeks after President Ronald Reagan assured the Iranian people in a televised address that they would never be allowed to win their war with American backed Iraq. The shooting down of Flight 655 was effective, showing Iran that Reagan spoke much truth, and the 8 year Iran/Iraq war ended shortly after this incident. Clearly those 290 deaths were not in vain.

Reagans Vice President Bush (Daddy of Dubya) said in reaction to the outcry at the time:

"I'll never apologize for the United States of America, ever. I don't care what the facts are"

The author of the Iran Air misfortune was Captain Will Rogers III of the USS Vincennes. The baying for pay-back-blood that accompanied and continues to accompany the Pan Am bombing has been entirely absent from Western media almost from the moment the Iran Air Flight 655 met the sharp end of the US Missile. In fact, the author of that misfortune did not face trial for murder, or homicide, or even military malpractice. Instead he was presented with the Legion of Merit decoration "for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding service as commanding officer ... from April 1987 to May 1989", by none other than Americas leading apologist, George Bush senior in one of his first duties as President.

Perhaps Gaddafi's celebrating Megrahi's release is a reminder of the celebrated return offered to Capt Will Rogers III?

It is inconceivable that no link exists between Pan Am Flight 103 and Iran Air Flight 655 and yet in all the miles of newsprint arising from Megrahi's release I have not seen one reference to Iran Air Flight 655.

To recap by way of conclusion on 2 events from 1988:

1. Iranian plane bombed by Americans. 290 dead. American shooter given medal by the President. Compensation paid to victims.

2. American plane bombed by Arabs. 270 dead. Arab fall guy who convinces no one of his guilt must rot in jail until dead or Americans will stop drinking Scotch whiskey at a time when they clearly need it the most.

To paraphrase Borat. 'Thatsa Nyse.'

Megrahi and plane murder.

2009-08-22T19:12:00.013+01:00

The newslines are awash with outraged Americans bemoaning Scotland's humanitarian release of the terminally ill Megrahi. A man whose links to the Lockerbie crash are uncertain.

What is certain is that Pan Am flight 103 went down on 21 December 1988.

What is equally certain, but a lot less well remembered is the other event involving a civilian airliner just 5 months before, on 3 July, 1988.

This is the day a US guided missile cruiser, the Vincennes, deliberately fired upon an Iranian Airbus, Flight 655, operating an established route between Teheran and Dubai, flying inside Iranian airspace when it was shot down laden with 290 civilians, including 66 children in an event just weeks after Ronald Reagan assured the Iranian people that they would never be allowed to win the war with American backed Iraq. The shooting down of Flight 655 was effective, showing Iran that Reagan spoke much truth, and the 8 year war ended shortly after this incident.

Reagans Vice President Bush (Daddy of Dubya) said in reaction to the outcry at the time:

"I'll never apologize for the United States of America, ever. I don't care what the facts are"

I don't think its a huge leap of logic to imagine that some of the 290 passengers on that Iranian Airbus A300 flight had relatives and that those relatives were not satisfied with the US payment of 131 Million dollars in compensation, or that USS Vincennes Captain Will Rogers III should not be prosecuted for murder but instead given a hero-medal. Perhaps Gaddafi's celebrating Megrahis release is a pointer to the celebrated return offered to Capt Will Rogers in 1988?

I think it is far more likely that Pan Am Flight 103 was the reply to Iran Air Flight 655. And to imagine that 1 lone Libyan could mastermind and be made accountable for this beggars belief.

Chainism. Holistic discrimination.

2009-07-22T11:26:00.004+01:00

Consider a chain. When tested for purpose, it will be as strong as its weakest link.

Consider a belief system that is based on blind faith. Lets use the handsome young Pakistani Mohammad Ajmal Amir Qasab as an example. A young man so blinded by belief that he chose to go off and machine gun innocents in neighboring India. It may be that our Mohammad has many fine qualities, and I bet somewhere a friend will proclaim how nice and gentle and loving he was - but the measure by which he will be seen where life's achievements are counted - is by this weakness. His blind faith in an imaginary God.

Because by accepting without substance belief in an imaginary being, a precedent is set. You must then accept any number of possibilities that lead on from this irrationality. Mohammad can justify his murderous actions on the same basis as every believer.

Belief in imaginary things places a kink in the chain of possibilities for developing awareness of the life experience.

Chainism is the holistic idea that you consider the value of people by the sum of their weakest and strongest qualities, not solely their most trumpeted strengths.
In military confrontation and even in competitive sport, the effective tactic is to identify the opponents weakness and play off that. Your opponent is as strong as his strongest weakness.

In the discrimination process by which we decide whose opinions and wisdom to believe and be influenced by, it becomes clear that those with the most to offer qualify because they have strengthened the weakest-link in the chain of their self awareness.

An example: Michael Jackson.
Strengths: talented young singer dancer in the 70's.
Weakness: Consumed by drug addiction delusion.

Measure of overall holistic chain strength: Tragic deluded failure. Had some early fun, got to play with Eddie Van Halen, but otherwise missed the point.

Try James Brown:
Strengths: Used compulsive obsessive control skills to bully a funky groove out of underpaid musicians until he established a legendary reputation as the Godfather of soul.
Weakness: Consumed by drugs and became by all accounts a thoroughly nasty piece of work.

Measure of overall holistic chain strength: The funky groove comes from a pretty unfunky and uncool place, so how funky cool can that groove really be. Conclusion. Overall - not the King of Soul at all. Sad deluded control freak mired in narcissistic flatulence.

last example: Keith Richards.
Strengths: Guitar playing songwriter and reliable friend.
Weakness: Well - you try find people to say bad things about Keith. A well liked man.
Measure of overall holistic chain strength: A successful life balanced in self fulfillment, having fun and helping others.

You try some now:

Michael Jacksons children

2009-07-11T18:44:00.004+01:00

I am bemused by press suggesting a custody battle for the 3 Jackson children is imminent. What custody battle?

Children are not chattels whose ownership is defined by possession.

So clearly in the case of the Jackson children (The first 2) the fact is Michael is obviously not the (biological) Father and Debbie Rowe is definitely the Mother.

Unless she is so unfit as a Mother that it is clearly in the childrens best interests never to see her, which is on the face of it extremely unlikely, is there any possible argument for the children not to go to her?

And what kind of Wacko decides its in his (and in this case not even biologically his) kids best interests never to see their Mother.

Must the wacko-ness continue even now, when the deleterious consequences of the wacko lifestyle have become so painfully obvious?

It is very unusual that the children's best interests are not served by being with a biological parent.

Guantanemo Bay

2009-05-22T08:24:00.004+01:00

As readers of the BBC web site are being invited to propose suggestions for Guantanemo Bay, here is mine:

Turn it into a tourist monument to illuminate the consequences of corrupt leadership.

A glass cage in which the top ten of the Bush administration would be displayed for 24 hours a day, in orange suits, for the remainder of their lives would be a fitting return for the harm the Bush men have visited upon the planet and a small step towards rehabilitating Americas image within the expedient of transparent accountability.

I think this would attract huge crowds - this living monument to the extremes to which corrupt power was enabled by the greed of a few and the compliant idiocy of another.

Americans could vote on who the top ten who should occupy this cell would be. I am guessing Dick Cheney would be a shoe in.

Chikurubi Prison.

2009-05-19T13:09:00.008+01:00

'You judge a nation and its people by the way they treat their prisoners.'

Chikurubi prison lies 12 miles east of Harari. Chikurubi prison is a monument to the relationship between Zuma and the guest of honor at his recent inauguration, Robert Mugabe.
Without Zuma's support for Mugabe it is a certainty that Chikurubi prison would not provide so chilling a testimony to Mugabe's malign influence.

Of the 1,300 inmates at Chikurubi in the past year, more than 700 have died of what is described in the Daily Telegraph as 'revolting conditions.'
The revolting condition most affecting the residents of Chikurubi is the inescapable fact that Zuma and Mugabe's ongoing friendship is directly and unavoidably at the heart of every Zuma/Mugabe sponsored death in Zimbabwe.

In a nutshell - while Mugabe quaffs champagne (Imported from France and not the excellent South African variety) with Zuma - inmates of Chikurubi prison are left to ruminate on how Black African leaders continue to demonstrate their inability to rise above the constraints of the Muntuism that is their legacy.

More than half of those admitted to Chikurubi in the past year are dead.

And the irony is that the same ignorant halfwits whose attitude of 'I didn't vote for the ANC - I voted for Zuma, because he understands us' represent the same demographic as those populating Chikurubi prison. The ignorant deluded poor empowering the morally bankrupt rich leadership to kill off the ignorant disempowered poor.

Go Jacob Zuma. Sponsor of Chikurubi, proving every action has a reaction.

Leonard Cohen.

2009-04-24T17:37:00.003+01:00

This is the greatest rhyming couplet I have heard today. I think it will become Barack Obama's theme.

From Leonard's song 'Everybody Knows.'

Everybody knows the deal is rotten
Old black joes still pickin cotton
For your ribbons and bows
And everybody knows

Religion, delusion and prison

2009-04-16T13:35:00.004+01:00

Here's a great statistic that I came across earlier.
10% of Americans are Atheist (or Agnostic). However .25% of the prison population is Atheist. I checked a registry of UK Prison population and found .2% of the prison population are Atheist, and in the UK the percentage of Atheists/Agnostics is approaching 50%

My conclusion is that the neediness and weakness that leads believers into choosing a value system that is so clearly disempowering, divisive and at odds with basic common sense, as is the case with the major religions, results in the non-accountable delusional belief that accompanies crime of a prison worthy nature.

Atheists on the other hand have accepted personal accountability and do not seek to apportion blame for their personal inadequacies on spurious notions like 'Original sin' and penitence leading to forgiveness. They are therefore more likely to not commit criminal acts because they are not trained to believe someone/something else is responsible for everything they do and will forgive them for the price of a few spoken words.

It is interesting to see the top and bottom list of the Countries by percentage of Atheists:

Most Atheist are:
Sweden. Vietnam. Denmark, Norway, Japan, Czech Republic, Finland, France.

Least Atheist are:
Somalia, Tanzania, Yemen, Western Sahara, Philippines, Romania, Pakistan, Cambodia, Iran

Success in Afghanistan

2009-04-01T10:06:00.005+01:00

While American and British forces put in place by the Bush/Blair axis of evil continue consuming Billions of dollars that may or may not be helping fuel the global recession in Afghanistan, I have to admit at this point that I have for some time felt that:
1. Making War without provocation threatening survival is indefensible and should be treated as a crime.
2. People who justify and support war (unless when facing a threat to survival) are not acting for the highest good and
3. Dropping expensive bombs by remote control on poor people and their children, is an open invitation for karmic return that will mean returning as a mosquito - or worse.

So I have been clear from the outset in my disgust at the barbaric abuses of power by the Bush and Blair regimes of terror, especially in their inhumane use of expensive technology to bomb a Country already more bombed than any other. Afghanistan is an almighty mess. As if they weren't buggered enough by centuries of exploitation by the evil cult of submission that mires them in a dark age mentality, requiring the men to grow beards, wipe the poo off their bottoms with their left hands, avoid pork whilst simultaneously praising the deified memory of a 53 year old fellow who had sex with a 9 year old, but is not considered a pedophile. This same fellows book designates all women inferior status to men, requiring them to dress in Burqas and legally sanctions assaults by their husbands at a whim.

Easy then to see why Western conscience would be outraged by stories of Taleban men raping 10 year old boys and committing all kinds of Muslim themed atrocities on defenseless civilians. That outrage was used to raise the Christian Armies of Bush and Blair to go 'teach the Talies a lesson.'
Years have passed and now we can review the outcome of the Blair/Bush zealotry.

Since December 2004 Afghanistan's leader is Hamid Harzai.
We should remember his name as our tax dollars were the cause of his election.

Hamid is a Muslim and so sees nothing untoward about his most recent contribution to Afghani law. A bill which legalizes rape in marriage. The law, which has not been publicly released, is believed to state women can only seek work, education or doctor's appointments with their husband's permission.
Only fathers and grandfathers are granted custody of children under the law, according to the United Nations Development Fund for Women.

Opponents of the legislation governing the personal lives of Afghanistan's Shia minority have said it is "worse than during the Taliban".
Mr Karzai has been accused of electioneering at the expense of women's rights by signing the law to appeal to crucial Shia swing voters in this year's presidential poll.

So in a nutshell. We raised an Army to go teach the Taleban that their Muslim ways were not acceptable. Bush explained how we gave them democracy - out of which came Karzai to give us this new consideration.

Islam. Whats not to love about it?

Burqas have many practical advantages

2009-03-23T16:26:00.003Z

Those of us who have looked upon the wearers of Burqas with horror, seeing this barbaric assault on that most basic of womens rights, the right to choose a public persona, as yet another instance of how poorly Islam treats its female membership whilst wondering as to the mental state of any woman willingly submitting to this abuse of a life experience, will be heartened by the following insight, told to me by a Security guard employed by Harrods.

He said 'Women in Burkas frequently and happily poo on the floor of Harrods from the safety of their black robes because they do not want to pay £1 for the toilet despite spending a fortune on hand bags.'

Its worth a little ponder.

Apostasy and Islam

2009-01-16T17:01:00.004Z

Another of the wonderful arguments that belief in Islam brings to the table is 'Apostasy - The Consequence.'

Meaning once you submit to Islam, there is no going back. No option to review your position in the light of new information. Should you wish to commit the crime of apostasy, and choose something like, Atheism, Scientology, Buddhism or even nihilism, the penalty is death. It is not difficult to see how, for children born into Islamic belief, this may present a potential for conundrum.

The death penalty for apostasy is not some age old edict that has fallen into disrepair, like the christian one that demands the killing of homosexuals, but a working example of how Islamic believers continue to apply their faith in the Quran.

All of which came as bad news for Abdirahman Ahmed, a Somalian Islam who evidently turned his back on the prophet and was found guilty in accordance with the Quran by an Islamic Sharia court. He died by firing squad on Thursday 8th January 2009, for the crime of Apostasy.

The Sharia court in Kismayo, Somalia, who pronounced his guilt decided that he should only be killed 'after the afternoon prayer session' which is a little mystifying. Why not execute him before prayers and then say prayers after. Or, seeing as there are prayers 5 times each day, which prayer session is the most important with regard to executing an apostate. It all seems so confusing sometimes.

My question is this. Is there not enough sickness in the world.

Meet Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow

2008-11-03T09:57:00.017Z

Whilst many of Gods achievements remain in the bounds of conjecture, thereby providing anti-theists with ammunition to support the delusional nature of God-belief, it is reassuring to see that God does occasionally provide physical evidence of his reality as is the case with Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow. Aisha, a 13 year old Somalian girl, is of course named after the prophet Muhamad's 9 year old wife.

This Aisha, a Magadishu resident, a place where belief in God is all consuming, was raped by 3 Somali men sometime in October 2008. Following the rape, her father called in the local authority, in this case the al-Shabab militia, ostensibly to report the crime of rape. Although, in Sharia law, the interpretation of rape allows generous flexibility, reflecting the superior status of the man.

The ability to align ones existence to an imaginary deity and all that follows from that delusion will inevitably provide for for any convenient delusion to manifest as Gods will and in the case of Aisha, Gods will took the form of miraculously transforming a rape allegation into a charge of adultery, which in Somalia's Sharia process is a capitol offense for which Allah makes specific legal provision. Death by stoning whilst buried to the neck. Tough break kid. Should have kept your mouth shut.

Senior clerics within al-Shabab arranged for 50 selected believers, all men, to bury the screaming and struggling child Aisha up to her neck in the sand in a stadium in front of 1,000 excited spectators, themselves also all believers in the one God and his Holy Book.
   A lorryload of hand picked rocks, sized according to the law governing these things ie: Not to big as to kill fast or too small as to cause merely annoyance, was delivered to the stadium. Islamic law is very precise and it is reassuring to know their standards in the science of rock selection were maintained throughout. No one wants to see an over-sized rock end the process prematurely - least of all Allah.

With the burial process complete and the child's body secure in the firm grasp of Mother Earth, the 50 chosen believers went to work throwing these onion sized rocks at Aisha's exposed head.
   "Don't kill me, don't kill me" witnesses report as her final words.
Eventually after enough of the rocks had pounded her skull with sufficient force, her screaming ceased and she was dug up to be examined by the attending male cleric whose job it was to confirm the death.
   Much to everyone's surprise he announced that she was still alive. As the law requires in these matters, and it is important to remember that this is Gods law, Aisha was then buried again and Gods work continued until Gods will was done by those he created in his image and who submit to his will until, finally, the last 'Allah Akbaar's' drifted over her lifeless bloodied corpse.
Only a fully qualified believer can properly appreciate the feeling of connection with Godliness the assembled crowd and the 50 chosen participants felt at the successful conclusion to their service.

Sheikh Hayakalah, the Sharia court judge, said in remarks broadcast on Radio Shabelle, a Mogadishu-based broadcaster, that Aisha had officially confirmed her guilt and was 'happy with the punishment under Islamic law.'
I am particularly relieved that the Shiekh has extended the logic of an invisible man in the sky determining everything - to the happiness of a child-rape victim finding justice in the form of grown men throwing rocks at her head. It is a consistent logical thread and one that enriches any argument in the value of God belief.

Aisha's father told Amnesty International that when they tried to report her rape to the militia, the child was accused of adultery and detained.

None of the men Aisha accused was arrested, as obviously no rape occurred, the more likely scenario, and the one accepted by Gods appointed arm of action, Sheikh Hayakalah, being that a devious and amoral 13 year old just fancied a four way with some smelly old bearded married men, who weren't themselves guilty of adultery, even though she was not married and they were.

Gods work is done.

Gary and Muhammad

2008-09-26T17:37:00.003+01:00

Gary Glitter has been in all kinds of bother with his taste for young girls. Muhammad, the prophet (PBUH) on the other hand enjoyed a successful sexual relationship with a 9 year old, whilst already well into his fifties.

I am in no way sympathetic to any abuser of children, irrespective of their motivations, however I cant help but feel that Gary has been a little short changed in being made the dumping pot for our national opprobrium. After all, can he not use the old prophet defense. 'If its good enough for the prophet, its good enough for me?'

Or, and here's my point. Should we not consider a judgmental view on the moral position of a man of 52 having sex with a 9 year old and still being considered by billions as 'the only prophet of the lord.' Is there not a part of this picture that would benefit from review?

Gary goes to jail and gets reviled for doing no more than the prophet (PBUH) felt appropriate conduct for a man of god. (sorry 'the' man of god).

Can we really shout at Gary whilst remaining silent about Muhammad?

Love story

2008-07-30T10:33:00.004+01:00

Here's a fabulous feel good story about love between man and beast.

In 1969 Harrods Pet department sold two young men, John Rendell and Ace Berg, a lion cub.
John and Ace raised 'Christian the lion' in a small flat in the Kings road, where, unsurprisingly, he became a Chelsea celebrity.
Eventually Christian grew too big to carry on as a London Lion, and the enterprising young men arranged for legendary 'Born Free' lion man George Adamson to introduce Christian into the wilds of Kenya.
To everyone's surprise, this well brought up, polite young Sloane Lion found an African bride and took command of his own pride in the wild.

What happens next can be seen here.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adYbFQFXG0U
.......................................
And once your done with that story, consider FAITH - the dog (Will Power) who could have so easily have seen her handicap as an insurmountable challenge, but instead lives a full and happy life changing the way people think of the opportunities their lives represent.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZsV4R3XJKk

Enjoy.

http://www.andrewbrel.com/

The Wedding Crashers

2008-07-15T12:42:00.009+01:00

On July 6th Lal Zareen woke up a happy man. This was the day his daughter and son were staging a double wedding. People came from miles around to join the revelry. There was laughter and merriment aplenty as the happy group wound their way towards the ceremony when some unexpected guests arrived.

A young American pilot in a war plane swooped low over the wedding party and dropped a bomb on them. This blew up a considerable number of the guests although some escaped the first blast and so the pilot returned to drop another bomb on the survivors. This killed off most of the women and children, but with admirable attention to detail, he then came back for thirds to be absolutely sure.

Although this is one wedding party that went with a bang, its seems safe to assume that for Lal Zareen and his guests, it was not a success.

Alastair Leithead, visiting the site as a BBC correspondent, says around 53 people died. Most of them women and children.

For two days after the attack the US military denied being wedding crashers, saying they had bombed insurgents. However, now Lt Nathan Perry says 'I assure you we do not target civilians and that our forces go to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties."

My thoughts go out to the pilot who now has to live with his contribution to raising the human condition. Around fifty women and children blown to smithereens by your hand is a lot of conscience to take to sleep with you every night.

Einstein

2008-05-15T16:24:00.002+01:00

A few thoughts by Albert Einstein:

The word god is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honourable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this.

Through the reading of popular scientific books, I soon reached the conviction that much in the stories of the Bible could not be true. The consequence was a positively fanatic orgy of freethinking coupled with the impression that youth is intentionally being deceived by the state through lies, it was a crushing impression.

Try and penetrate with our limited means the secrets of nature and you will find that, behind all the discernible laws and connections, there remains something subtle, intangible, and inexplicable. Veneration for this force beyond anything that we can comprehend is my religion. To that extent I am, in fact, religious.

Them that know.

2008-04-23T20:37:00.013+01:00

Them that know. Know that they know.
And them that don’t know. They don’t know they don’t know.

What I know is. The Catholic Robert Mugabe has a dark agenda. His choices have disempowered millions - caused immeasurable suffering and misery - all done in the name of greed, vanity and ego in a riotous celebration of base emotions. Narcissism and overblown deluded self belief.

Almost everyone in the entire world knows that Robert Mugabe is a dark entity and yet he remains in power. His ‘where did you put your cross’ campaign sends his thugs to assault voters who did not put their cross on his name. Mugabe's African style democracy in action.

Something else that I know is that Tony Blair and George Bush serve dark agendas. Their choices have disempowered Millions. Their behavior has caused untold suffering and misery, a murderous leadership-for profit style, done in the name of greed, vanity and ego whilst credited conveniently to divine, accountability dodging, origins

Almost everyone in the entire world knows that Bush is a dark entity. Around the world, outside of his circle of incentivized friends, he is commonly reviled as a power crazed village idiot creating immeasurable karmic debt. Most people in Britain feel betrayed by Blair - yet Bush is still in power while Blair rakes in Millions dispensing his Godly wisdom. A million British people came out to say NO to his Iraq war intentions, but Blair insisted. God was his excuse and considerable personal profit is the outcome. A Million lives ruined was the price of their promotion.

If alcoholism has taught us anything it is that without admission of a problem, no resolution is possible. Is there a problem with the world today?

If so, who heads the task force to make things better for the race of man. Surely – our elected leaders – in hierarchical order from the most powerful nation downwards. If things are bleak – are they in any way responsible. Should our leaders be able to use that most ridiculous of justifications – God told me to, whilst remaining immune to the obvious fact that they are NOT serving the planets best interests whilst remaining unaccountable for their actions. Be they criminal or moral.

Without accountability for personal actions, no forward progress is possible. Without making those leaders whose choices were so far from the will of the electorate – in particular Bush and Blair - accountable, we remain as a race attached to the same blind malaise as the alcoholic. Address the problem or die because of it. God and stupidity.

Blair and Bush betrayed the popular will of those supposedly empowered to elect them as representatives. Just as the majority in Zimbabwe could not possibly have voted for a leader selling what:
The lowest mortality rate in the world, 150,000 % inflation and a track record of 100% failure in every department. Its easy to see how 50% of Zimbabweans voted for him then.

Similarly the majority of the US and UK electorate could not possibly have voted for what Bush and Blair achieved.

The disaster that their intelligent guidance had every opportunity to prefer instead of what their selfish – God driven profit motivated stance brought into fruition – has led to a terrible lowering of the bar in the human condition.

There is no getting away from it. Bush and Blair have achieved in leadership terms, a new low. Only the spin for ‘Them that don’t know’ can hope to hide this glaring fact. Not since the persecution of those claiming the Flat Earth was a myth can leadership be considered to have failed to represent ‘those that know’ to such a degree.

Not only has so much ‘3 trillion dollar’ ruination visited Iraq because of these dreadful deceits, but on a more far reaching scale, a new generation of voters look at what happened there – courtesy of Bush an Blair – and see no reason not to demonstrate the same moral barbarism. Look no further for a social explanation as to why the wide reaching instances of morally bankrupt behavior goes on in our communities. Why should any kid behave with a sense of moral compass when world leaders like Bush, Blair and Mugabe so obviously provide a moral compass suggesting what is obvious to those who knows:

The rich empower a leader to represent their interests. Spin and money. The majority are duped with a God driven – fear based agenda - that ensures their submission in moral and economic enslavement.

'The rich get richer – the poor get children.'

Those who know know.
And those that don’t know. They don’t know they don’t know.

And them that don’t know – statistically - represent 90%.
90% of people alive on Earth limit their choices by accepting supplication to God. The poorer and least educated being the most affected.

This demonstrates that 90% of people have abrogated personal responsibility for the far easier expedient of God. God rules – because – with God nothing is ever your fault. There is no accountability with God because as any believer will confirm, the devil exists to provide a watertight excuse for any personal failure to exercise wise decision-making.

How anyone still falls for this exposed and ridiculous idea can best be explained by motive. The motive exists for a minority of those empowered by privilege to ensure the continuing subjugation of those disempowered by ignorance into a God driven position of submission to the fortunes of their dominant masters. To the majority of us in recent times, this refers specifically to Messrs Bush and Blair.

Men made immensely wealthy by their betrayal of the office to which they were – seemingly elected – by their choice to use God as the shameful deceit by which they employ spin masters to manipulate the compliant majority of - basically poor people – driven by poverty consciousness toward a belief in a mysterious God figure who will – despite all common sense and all evidence to the contrary – reveal himself to make things better.

And for this vanity driven sickness, a million people in Iraq, many of whom are no different in aspiration or personal choice to the English people who pay the taxes that pay for the bombs that blight their lives, find their lives ruined beyond repair. This happens while Blair and Bush enjoy ever growing prosperity in direct proportion to the misery that drives this unhappy balance.

How will this ever change. There are so many now who are empowered by choice. Who are able to formulate opinions on what is – and what should be. Based on a personal experience of common sense and not simply a Mugabe style version of ‘Where did you put your cross.’

Should the day ever come where the elected minority accurately express the will of the majority – one thing is for sure. Accountability must accompany the position. Without accountability – just as an alcoholic cannot recover without first admitting the root of the problem, we must recognize accountability in those who accepted the office – and the benefits of celebrity leadership – whilst pursuing a failed agenda.

Bush and Blair must be made accountable before a new era of considered leadership based on a considered representation of the majority can commence. Don’t do the crime if you cant do the time.

Mugabe, Bush and Blair have betrayed the interests of those who looked to them for leadership. The semantics of how they can be tried in law is secondary to what ‘Them that knows. Knows.’

The damage their abuse of privileged position has caused is far worse than almost any other criminal activity you could think of like say – a mass murderer. And yet - they are somehow disenfranchised from accountability. Praise the Lord. That really is evidence of miraculous goings on.

Unless these leaders who have palpably failed to deliver the basic charter for which they were elected be held accountable, how can we ever hope for change toward a more enlightened condition. We as a human race need accept and address the faults in our condition – or succumb entirely to their consequences.

Bush Blair and Mugabe. Bought to trial for crimes against Humanity – will be when you know the worm has turned.

In the meanwhile agitating for a better world by proclaiming objection to – environment – crime – child abuse – asylum quotas – petrol prices - etc… should be seen in the appropriate context. Small, irrelevant distraction from the central issue.

The central issue is – 90 % or so of the Earths population is mired in the philosophy of ignorant bliss. They have no accountability to themselves. They believe their God will provide a heaven if they conform to a rigid set of rules that makes an enemy of anyone who does not conform to the same ridiculous nonsense.

All pain and no gain it seems to me. A life spent punishing yourself with guilt and attachment to base values, living in fear while looking forward to a happy period after you die. We elect leaders in this same image and the world burns. Wars create millionaires to keep things ticking along and as ‘Them that don’t know. Don’t know they don’t know’ but continue to grow in number, apocalyptic melt down becomes inevitable. Indeed, desirable to millions of American christians who yearn for the reassurance of their biblical interpretation requiring Apocalypse to fulfill their deluded prophecy belief.

Until we establish a new system of accountable leadership that represents the will of the people who have retained the option of free choice, we can rely on one thing only. More God – more war.

Can every vote really be considered equal in the system we call democracy when the vast majority don’t have the basic capacity to exercise the most basic precepts of free choice. Money and spin can turn them any which way. They would even vote in a village idiot with a little god driven spin. Really - I am not making this up.
Lenin's great wisdom is as true now as ever. 'A lie told often enough becomes the truth.' This truth cannot coexist with the principle of 'one man one vote' democracy.

My hope is that ‘Them that know’ will increase in number until a tipping point is reached.

Perhaps a future generation will look back on the ‘God’ era of man with the same incredulity that we now look back just a few hundred years to when God made the Earth Flat. Those blasphemers who challenged the Church view that the Earth was flat were liable to grisly death.

Paul Kruger, the elected leader of the Republic of the Transvaal died in 1904. Little over a hundred years ago, he died convinced of two things. God. And that the Earth was Flat.

Them that don’t know. Don’t know they don’t know.

For those who understand, no explanation is needed.
For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.

Travel and Islam

2008-03-26T11:50:00.005Z

Andrew Brown, 43, from Middlesex has a lesson for anyone considering a visit to Dubai. His reward for visiting Dubai last Month is a 4 year jail sentence. A .0003 gram speck of cannabis, too small for the naked eye to see, was detected on the sole of his shoe (the outside part) by the drug detector at Dubai airport.

Tracy Wilkinson, 45, from West Sussex was stopped at Dubai Airport and arrested. She was carrying codeine pills, for back pain. She spent 8 weeks in a Dubai prison before being released. Being caught at Dubai airport with over the counter cold remedy's which include codeine will land you in jail for 4 years.

Still thinking of traveling to Dubai or the UAE? Or investing in their fabulous Environmentally catastrophic developments?

Dubai airport has state of the art detection equipment. They have a list of prohibitive substances that includes poppy seeds - as used in many a British sandwich - and they have a mandatory four year jail term for any offender, no matter how small the amount.

So - best you not eat a sandwich at Heathrow before flying to Dubai. If it has a poppy seed covering, you will not be the first to face a mandatory 4 year jail term for this offense.

Possession of prohibited substances is not limited to actual physical possession as in Western law. Arrests and mandatory 4 year jail terms will follow if, for instance, you have smoked cannabis within 6 weeks of entering Dubai or UAE. This is because residue in the bloodstream is considered as possession in their law. Traces of prohibited substances in hair, blood and urine have been used to secure 4 year convictions.

As is well known in the UK and the US, most used bank notes have a residue of cocaine. This means your Gran could be locked up for 4 years for carrying cash in her wallet through Dubai Airport. That is if she wasn't done for the residue of codeine found in a hair sample from medication she took to calm her on the flight.

Before you visit Dubai or UAE, ask yourself what the Prophet would do. Praise be upon his shame.

Athanase Seromba

2008-03-12T16:33:00.004Z

Here is a gentleman with a lesson for those battling to understand the problems that beset the dark continent.

Athanase is a man of God. A Pope man, spreading the Catholic word around Africa. After doing much good work with the people in his home parish in Rwanda, Athanase moved to Italy continuing his work as a Catholic priest near Florence. Neither he nor his employers saw any contradiction between spreading Catholicism and Athanase's tribal recidivism that saw him kill thousands of his own parishiners. (He locked them inside his church, got his mate the bulldozer man to crush the building, making sure that any survivors were dispatched to the Lord via Panga and pistol.)

Now those pesky Athiests from The United Nation War Crimes tribunal have interpreted Athanases good use of his Church in what is quite obviously a racist way that makes him sound like a criminal. For heavens sake. They have sentenced the poor fellow to life imprisonment.

We hope the Pope will intervene and save him from what is clearly a racist attack on his good character by the United Nations tribunal. I can only assume it because he is Black?

As the Catholic church has already paid out over 1 Billion US Dollars to US victims of, how shall I put this, Athanasetic conduct in the US, it is easy to see how God works in mysterious ways for the Catholics. Surely they can just spend a bit more to pay off the alleged 'victims' and send Athanase back to minister to the Catholic demands in his home country.

My hope is that the Catholic lawyer Tony Blair and his Barrister wife Cherie will direct their collective legal expertise towards a defence for Athanase and restore him to his rightful place, where he is needed most, doing Gods work in Africa once more.

Jay Zee

2008-02-14T10:53:00.007Z

Recently I viewed a list of African National Congress Council members who have criminal records, or who are under a cloud of suspicion.
The ANC have an 80 member National Executive committee. These 80, elected by the 3,800 delegates of the ANC are effectively the leadership of the rainbow nation. Quite how this conforms to the accepted principles of Democracy in which fundamental human rights of individual citizens are protected by the collective and in which the views of the population-at-large, not just a ruling elite, are reflected in the actions of government, I have no idea. Perhaps it would more accurately be described as Democracy 3,800.

One third (33%) of the ANC National Executive Committee have, or soon, to various degrees, will have criminal records. This includes conviction for crimes such as kidnapping (see Africa’s favorite killing kidnapper/fraudster Winnie Mandela), although mostly they are convicted or charged with fraudulent activity.

Most recently a new leader has been appointed to the ANC. JZ as his supporters call him. (Jay Zee). Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma. Zuma, a practicing Polygamist is best known outside of the townships for successfully defending an allegation of rape, leveled at him by a trusted family friend and house guest who was HIV positive when they had, according to Zuma, unprotected sex. I have wondered why, if this girl lied about the rape which is the only conclusion following a Not Guilty verdict, she was not subsequently prosecuted. Rape is a heinous allegation to be unjustly accused of. Making a false allegation of rape perverts the course of justice and is a criminal offense. Why was this young lady not prosecuted?

In the corruption Court, Zuma escaped conviction along with his financial adviser, Schabir Schaik, who was imprisoned for 15 years in connection with his corrupt relationship with Zuma. Allegedly over a corrupt arms deal made possible by Zuma’s office in the ANC. Zuma’s case was scheduled to start in September 2006, but struck off the roll by Judge Herbert Msimang after the state unsuccessfully applied for a postponement. The new date for the hearing is August 4, 2008. Or is it?

Corruption is endemic in African politics and South Africa is no exception. Just google keywords like ‘corruption, ANC’ and see how many stories come up. (The leader of the ANC and the chief of Police, Jackie Selebi, head a very long list.) The real surprise is when you hear about an ANC politician who is not corrupt. The idea of creating an anti corruption unit in South Africa, given independent powers to investigate and pursue corrupt figureheads was a good one. The Scorpions (Directorate of Special Operations unit) was formed in January 2001, 16 months after President Mbeki promised the national legislature that the government would set up a squad to fight so-called priority crimes. This was a reaction to concerns over the staggering crime wave sweeping South Africa, elevating it to the top of the Worlds charts in terms of murders per capita and jeopardizing prospects for the foreign investment that would help to sustain the growing economy.

The Scorpions had some notable successes, including the Schabir Schaik/Jacob Zuma Arms dealing story. Their evidence would have formed the case for Zuma’s August hearing.

So far so good?

Following his election to the leadership of the ANC Zuma has made his first major initiative, ordering the government of President Thabo Mbeki to dismantle the country's highly successful organized crime fighting unit, the Scorpions.

Lets consider this fact momentarily. In a Country beset with heinous crime, ravaged by an epidemic of aids, mired in a cycle of illiteracy and poverty where the number of people living on less than one dollar a day has doubled since the end of Apartheid, and with only the gift of hope bequeathed by the Mandela effect to light a way forward, the new leader makes his first initiative one that effectively removes the corruption case against him, and rubber stamps the opportunity for unregulated excesses to characterize his term in office. Way to go Jay Zee. Kick the downtrodden when they’re down.

I watched Fergal Keane’s BBC 'Panorama' last Monday which includes an interview with Jacob Zuma. Keane points out the disturbing reluctance by the ANC to confront the Mugabe ‘Black Apartheid’ still decimating the lives of so many Millions in Zimbabwe. A disaster of monumental proportions, even by the elevated standards already made commonplace by Africa’s prevailing Muntocracy. 4 Million Zimbabweans have arrived in South Africa. Mostly unskilled, mostly desperate. Some, like Adonis Musati die of starvation just waiting outside the office for the ineffective South African bureaucracy to process their papers. Others just work illegally. There are good opportunities for a man made fearless by desperation, such as knocking down and stealing power cables and selling the metals contained inside. The Chinese are always on hand to buy up any raw materials on offer.

Quiet how a Country already beset by poverty and crime will absorb another 4 Million needy cases, mostly unskilled, mostly impoverished, is unlikely to surprise anybody.

Instead of intervening in Zimbabwe, as befitting South Africa’s position of moral and economic power in Africa, ANC leadership instead sanction Mugabe’s excesses with their silence, recognizing him as ‘The spiritual father of Africa’. Mbeki is invariably seated at his right hand when African leaders meet and award their usual standing ovation to Mugabe’s entrance. To add a typically South African touch of irony to the ANC’s Zimbabwe effect, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was robbed at gunpoint by three (veterans) shortly after arriving at the MDC’s office in exile in Johannesburg's district of Bryanston to meet foreign journalists. With next Months Zimbabwe election looming, losing his documents and his laptop surely represents more of a loss to Mr Tsvangirai than a profit for the thieves whilst adding another nail to his impossible quest, leaving Southern Africa facing the prospect of a Zuma led South Africa and a Mugabe led Zimbabwe.

As Desmond Tutu observed with a pained voice on Mondays Panorama program, ‘Surely South Africa deserves better.’

I however disagree. The reality, for me, is that you get what you deserve. It’s a law of the Universe. A karmic law. One action causes another. The very essence of balance. You reap what you sow. Hoping for better days is not the same as starting the journey in that direction.

Consider alcoholics. Drinking themselves to death saying, ‘surely I deserve better’ while their livers rot. This condition changes with two events:
~ The will to change and ~ the knowledge with which to effect change.
Effective knowledge in the alcoholics case directs – admit you are an alcoholic and treatment can begin. Starting with the admission ‘My name is.... and I am an alcoholic’ the alcoholic can hope to recover. There is no recovered alcoholic I know who has not traveled this route.

My point?

Africa and South Africa in particular manifest a condition of national denial. The nature of the survival instinct is to invent and then rely on convenient reality. Delusion. Reliance on feelgood fabrication without considering the wider picture. The disease of Africa has to be addressed before it can be remedied. The disease is best described as Muntusim.

Muntuism is a base philosophy that disregards all of mans advances in evolving workable codes to live by. Muntuism is a unique blend of nihilism and total thoughtlessness. A process that places the individuals base needs at the front and end of everything. Muntuism disregards all value in anything beyond short-term need gratification. This includes the value of life. Muntuism recognises no connection between cause and effect. It has no accountability, no conscience and no concept of mercy. Although there are many examples of Muntuism, I will refer to just one. The Muntu’s who shot the musician Lucky Dube for no more than the possibility of a joyride in a BMW. Researching Muntuism, as I have done for many years, reveals that allowed to progress unchecked, Muntuism conforms to a model of social and evolutionary anarchy that will with all certainty consume not only itself, but all with whom it comes in contact. Allowed unchecked Muntuism is a terminal social cancer.

Unlike cancer there is an existing cure for Muntuism. This takes the form of enlightenment. Education. Education when used in conjunction with an effective rule of law will work. In another of Africa’s beautifully ironic references that characterize the denial based reality of South Africa, the current Aids education initiative is headed by none other than Jacob Zuma. A man whose reputation for wisdom in the HIV area has been reported world-wide.

It is a curiosity to me, listening to the various arguments being put forward in Western media for South Africa, a Country which has an outstanding track record for producing high intelligence individuals possessed of wisdom and insight, that they appear to anyone listening from a first world perspective, to be the work of clueless gormless proponents of Muntuism.

What on Earth is going on. Jay Zee leading the worlds front line in the Aids battle? Bring me my machine gun please.

It is clear that unless the Muntuism issue is addressed South Africa will ensure that Africa’s 100% record of failed Governments maintaining their kleptocracies in the guise of denial based Democracy, will be complete.

Is the polygamist Jay Zee really the best that South Africa can come up with to lead the way forward from what even that denial steeped culture must surely accept, is a crisis?

Or, considering Mbeki’s famous ‘I don’t know anyone who has it’ remark on Aids, which made him the only person on South Africa for whom that would be true, I guess the new line for the ANC will be ‘Crisis, what crisis.’

My name is Jacob and I am a .....

Bobby Fischer.

2008-01-18T12:28:00.000Z

Bobby Fischer (64) died yesterday. I read this on the BBC web site and immediately went to his Wikipedia page where I read the line 'Rumors abound that he was strangled by his own beard.'
Curiously when I went back to the same page two days later, this line was removed, confirming that he had in fact died of Kidney failure. I wonder who would post a line suggesting he was killed by his own beard. The plot thickens.

Apart from becoming World chess champion, Fisher was a unique character. Despite his Jewish parentage, he declared that his life's work was to 'expose the Jews for the criminals .....the murderers they are' and argued that the United States is "a farce controlled by dirty, hook-nosed, circumcised Jew bastards."

Undeniably he was poorly treated by the US, being criminalised for playing a chess game in Yugoslavia while Bush Senior had an embargo in place. The US government that feted his American superiority when the cold war made it expedient to do so, subsequently turned on him with especial viciousness, leaving Fisher convinced of a worldwide Jewish conspiracy perpetrated by "the Jew-controlled U.S. Government" to defame and destroy him.

Bobby Fisher touched great heights on one level, but seemingly had a tortured life filled with frequent visitations from misfortune.

I always find it interesting to see where those possessed of great intellectual gifts turn their attentions, and the resulting consequences of these attentions.

No doubt the movie will follow soon.

The Wikipedia link is on the name tag above.

Let he who cast the first stone against ISLAM

2008-01-15T11:59:00.002Z

For the majority of those possessed with double figure IQ, Islam is clearly an oppressive belief system which devalues the life experience and degrades the human condition. A common charge directed against proponents of Islam is that its barbaric practices are inhumane and indefensible in this age where many can read, write and do basic math, and are therefore not able to cite total blithering idiocy as a basis for belief.

As a music maker I know that my position in Islamic belief is as 'an offense against God'. This applies to anyone who uses musical instruments to make music. Have a piano or guitar in the house? You too are offending Islams God.

It is quite incredible for any mind developed past the basic level of reading and counting past ten that anyone making an informed choice would opt for Islam and the intellectual submission this requires.

This bemusement is frequently accompanied by feelings of superiority, commonly based on the premise that our Western social order, predicated on rational informed thought process, is demonstrated, infallibly, in any intelligent argument to be superior in every way that serves to improve the individuals life experience.

Well blow me over with a whiff of onion yoghurt breath. I was wrong. Islam is not rooted in the dark ages of black ignorance. They do have a place for scientific consideration.

I have just read Article 104 of the Iranian Penal code.

This deals with the size of stones to be used in the punishment of the Adulterer. Specifying that the stones used should "Not be large enough to kill the person by one or two strikes, nor should they be so small that they could not be defined as stones."

Evidently over enthusiastic Muslims were using stones too large for purpose and the whole event was over too quickly. Women in this scenario are buried up to their chests before the stoning begins. Hardly worth coming out for if its over with the first, second, or third stone.

I am sure you will share my relief in learning that Islam incorporates science so intelligently into the legal process and that the wasteful nature of a quick end for adulterers has now been put to rights.

Nine women and two men in Iran are currently waiting to experience the benefits of this law.

Perhaps LastMinute.com will do a weekend package to coincide with the occasions of public stoning. A chance for us to sample local culture and witness Sharia law in action. Would certainly make for a memorable trip I think. The holiday rep could hand out copies of this 'appropriate stone size law' to prevent any holiday makers keen on participating in local customs from falling foul of the accepted conventions.

Mordechai Vanunu

2008-01-11T14:50:00.001Z

I have followed the story of Mordechai Vanunu since he made the Sunday Times so famously in 1986. Israels treatment of Vanunu since the famous honeytrap incident by Cheryl Bentov that led to his kidnapping by Israel in September 1986 serves as an ongoing manifestation of the turpitude that characterises Israeli morality.

Cheryl Bentov is a good example of prevailing Israeli moral culture. Here is a girl who enthralls a man through inferred promise in the guise of loving attraction. (See message below) Drugs him and enthusiastically conspires in his kidnapping and incarceration, knowing that he will spend most of the rest of his life in a degrading and obscene violation of his human rights. And all this with the encouragement of her husband, the man from Mossad.

And the crime Vanunu is guilty of?

Revealing the secret presence of Middle Eastern 'Weapons of Mass Destruction' to the West.

Obviously as President Bush's is now in Israel and given his famous interest in uncovering Weapons of Mass Destruction in the Middle East, one might consider his continuing support of the human rights violations that the Israeli government visits on the unfortunate Mr Vanunu in the form of the massive and ongoing American investment in Israels position, surprising.

The European Parliament has condemned Israels treatment of Vanunu repeatedly. Calling for immediate action. Many of the first world Countries have recognised his plight and called for an immediate end to his persecution by the Israelis.

Try as I might though, I see no record of any similar call from the Bush regime.

This leads me to wonder why there is no similar outcry from the US. Is this because the US have an interest in the Israeli Nuclear armaments that Vanunu exposed? There are plenty of articles on google that support this position.

Whatever the reasons, every day that passes with this man being subject to ongoing atrocity by the Israeli regime is a measure of the shamefulness of those empowered by democratic election to do something about it, and who have done nothing.

Tony Blair, the pious Christian, charged with bringing peace to the Middle East (in between building up his multi Million pound American 'business to Blair' fund), has not seen fit to extend the same Christian concern he shows for remunerative opportunities to the position of a human being who we all owe a debt to.

And we do owe Vanunu a debt.

Nuclear weapons should not be secreted away under the control of those with no regard for international law and with no history of conscience or responsibility. Vanunu blew the whistle, quite possibly forcing a note of caution into their proceedings that may well have averted a nuclear strike in the intervening 21 years.

But still Mr. Vanunu rots away in Israel while so many call for his freedom in equal measure to the indifference of those empowered to enable it.

Let us hope Republican voter Cheryl Bentov, now selling real estate in Longwood Florida, where she lives the Millionaire lifestyle whilst providing good Zionist training for her two daughters, manages to dodge the ghosts of her karma. At least in this life time. Ironic perhaps that one prepared to debase the human condition so readily in the service of Israel does not extend her servitude to actually living there.

I would hope Cheryl would join me in wishing Mr Vanunu all the best for 2008.

You can find out more by visiting Eileen's site We Are Wide Awake

No End In Sight - Charles Ferguson.

2007-12-10T15:55:00.000Z

News is a bustling industry. Its success depends on the commercial relationship between truthfulness and popular taste. As Paul Simon observed many years ago
“I don’t believe what I read in the papers – they’re just out to capture my dime.’
Finding truthful sources of news is a skill of tremendous complexity requiring considerable investment in time and thoughtfulness. It’s the same with developing a capacity for interpreting news. At times of War such as these where British and American servicemen are dying in numbers, any news of the War is most likely to have been processed to suit the agenda of the governments involved.

And so what a pleasure it was to watch the work of Charles Ferguson. The acclaimed movie, ‘No end in sight’. I watched this movie because of its 8.6 ranking on IMDB. At the end of the movie, my first question was ‘Who paid for this’.

Charles Ferguson is a remarkable fellow. Amongst his many academic achievements lies the story of Vermeer technologies. A Software company he founded in 1994 and sold in 1996 for $133 Million. Unlike the example of so many of those suddenly possessed of a quick fortune, Charles Ferguson saw fit to finance a movie to provide an honest and reliable source of news on a matter that concerns us all, but especially those paying taxes to the American regime who have brought their Country into such spectacular disrepute.

I never understood the achievements of Messrs Rumsfeldt, Cheney, Wolfowitz and Bush with such clarity before watching this movie. Because the motivation in the delivery of this program is not commercial, but quite clearly based on an intelligent and informed desire to report objectively on matters of importance, the outcome is inspiring. The credibility of the author and his production skills in pacing the information evenly by clever choices of commentary and edits serves as an important reminder that we are living in the shadow of the worst atrocity by government office since Adolf saw fit to turn his fabulous nation against the Russians.

The American and British attacks on Iraq that have destroyed not only the entire cultural base of this ancient civilization, in the looting and burning of the museums and libraries containing artifacts and documents going back 7,000 years, but also directly causing what will eventually be shown as a death toll in the Millions.

There is little doubt that the war on Iraq will go down as the highest death count of any war since WW2. With every passing day hundreds of Iraqi’s, women, children, young and old are dying. Many there believe these are the lucky ones, spared from a life that is worse than death.

Through the intellectual and material benevolence of Charles Ferguson, you can inform yourself more reliably on the subject by watching NO END IN SIGHT.

The link is here.

Carroll Quigley

2007-11-29T10:34:00.000Z

Here is a gift for you. A remarkable gift. The opportunity to read the works of Carroll Quigley. Historian and Philosopher extraordinaire. With the wonder of the Internet, you can now read his works for free.

Here are his three major books.

Tragedy and Hope.
The Anglo American Establishment
The Evolution of Civilizations.

Celtic Inspiration

2007-11-27T12:15:00.000Z

Happily my new album with Hugh Burns, CELTIC INSPIRATION is finding its feet in the big wide world.

The prestigious New Age reviewer - CYGNUS REVIEW - has included a nice review in the December issue.

My local coffee shop - Mada Cafe - play this album all the time, which is a good sign I think. Its been interesting hearing this music in the context of a listener rather than creator. Made me aware of just how complex the arrangements are to make it end up sounding so simple.

This album took around 6 Months to make. Hugh brought a collection of his fantastic nylon strung guitars. As ever his playing is quite magnificent. Celtic Inspiration is my 5th in the 'New Age Ambient' genre. It also includes a vocal by the legendary Alan Tarney, writer of 'Its so funny how we don't talk anymore', 'Orchard Road' and producer of 'Take on Me' by Aha. Charlotte's all time favorite song.

Swavek Zaks amazing daughter, ZOE ZAK, all of 17, was booked for what I suspect was her first professional session, to sing arranged vocal parts on two tracks. A feat she accomplished with tremendous dexterity and artfulness. Well worth checking out I think.

You can preview tracks on CD BABY

Or go to my store and just buy a copy HERE

Charlie Morgans new studio

2007-11-20T16:28:00.000Z

My business partner from Bridge Recordings, who is also known as a 'legendary' British drummer for his work with Phil Lynott, Gary Moore, Nik Kershaw, Kate Bush, Paul McCartney, Eros Ramazotti, Tina Turner and Pete Townshend, has moved to Nashville where he has set up a new studio.

If its anywhere near the standard that Charlie maintained in his time here, then its sure to be a great studio.

Check out the contact details
here. ManicDrums Studio.

And if you are making an album in Nashville, why not have a drum legend on your next album?

Charlie is the only person I know who has played a 90 minute stadium gig with a headline act (Billy Joel) without any rehearsal whatsoever and earned a standing ovation from the artist as well as the crowd.

Kaveh Golestan, Terry Lloyd and the Iran Iraq War.

2007-11-10T20:20:00.001Z

Having recently neared the exhaustive end of my book about the South African Bush war, my ongoing research into other conflicts has been extensive. I came across an outstanding ITN documentary by journalist Terry Lloyd, which I have just watched.

Modern Warfare. The Iran Iraq war, 1980 – 1988.

I have some insight into this particular conflict as I was good friends with Kaveh Golestan, the fabulous Iranian photographer who covered the Iran/Iraq war for many major publications including Time magazine. Kaveh won many prestigious photography awards during this time. He would spend 6 months of the year in the war zone and 6 Months back in his Eton Terrace home, where I would join him and his lovely wife Hengameh for coffee, endless cigarettes and long conversations about the circumstances of his experiences on the Iranian front line. As a participant in war myself, I found our conversations to be especially insightful and rewarding. It was he who first made me aware of the Iranian military tactic of child sacrifice. Mothers so demented by the heady cocktail of Islamic belief and Nationalist rhetoric that they would drive their children to the front line to deliver them to certain death. Kaveh showed me incredible sequences of photos of mothers with faces aglow with pride and joy, the reason for which was revealed as being the moment they see their young child die in the name of Allah.

John Lloyds documentary reminded me of this phenomenon in conflict. At the stage in the war where both sides were reduced to a first world war style trench conflict, separated by a heavily mined no mans land, the Iranians faced a dilemma on how best to mount an attack on the Iraqi defensive line considering the minefield issue. With an arms embargo in place and without the means to produce their own minefield clearing vehicles they contrived an ingenious solution. One entirely unique to this time and place.

Word went out to Mothers across the land to bring their young children to the front line to become martyrs for Islam. Mothers arrived in droves bringing their young to act as mine clearers. This is not a complicated task for any nine year old. You take them to the edge of the minefield and send them walking away. This technique proved highly effective at protecting the lives of the more valuable soldiers who could then cross the ‘safe’ ground to pursue their enemy. Thousands of children died in this way. Martyrs for Islam. The kids were issued with a 'Paradise' key before being sent off. The Ayatolah ordered 500,000 plastic keys from Taiwan for this exact purpose. These plastic keys were hung around the necks of the youngsters before they were sent out. This the Mullahs ensured all concerned would guarantee instant access to heaven the moment their little bodies were blown into small bits of bloody gore.

The Mullahs, aware that their knowledge of military tactics was not up to par, rejected conventional wisdom in their approach, deciding instead that GOD sanctioned their struggle. So with Gods guidance (Sorry thats Allah's guidance)they contrived a creative new way to make the Iraqi soldiers feel bad about themselves.

The Human Wave.

As witnessed by Penthouse journalist Bob Cringely

'I took a taxi to the front, introduced myself to the local commander, who had gone, as I recall, to Iowa State, and spent a couple days waiting for the impending human wave attack. That attack was to be conducted primarily with 11-and 12-year-old boys as troops, nearly all of them unarmed. There were several thousand kids and their job was to rise out of the trench, praising Allah, run across No Man's Land, be killed by the Iraqi machine gunners, then go directly to Paradise, do not pass GO, do not collect 200 dinars. And that's exactly what happened in a battle lasting less than 10 minutes. None of the kids fired a shot or made it all the way to the other side. And when I asked the purpose of this exercise, I was told it was to demoralize the cowardly Iraqi soldiers.

Waiting those two nights for the attack was surreal. Some kids acted as though nothing was wrong while others cried and puked. But when the time came to praise Allah and enter Paradise, not a single boy tried to stay behind.'

In 1989 I was sitting in Kaveh’s splendid front room in Eton Terrace looking through a box of some 200 large black and white prints of his photos detailing the minutiae of this horrendous illustration of the dire consequences of blind faith. ‘Total War’ as it has been described. Kaveh famously was the first cameraman to send back pictures proving the Iraqis were using chemical weapons (Nerve gas) in the conflict. (Chemical and biological weapons were supplied to Saddam Hussein by his allies - the USA, as well as Britain, Italy and France. Having supplied these WMD's to Saddam, imagine Bush's surprise when none could be found to suit his political convenience.)

As I had very little knowledge of Islam and its ways at that time (The late 80’s) I was thrilled by the opportunity to be informed first hand by such a knowledgeable and articulate source. I remain amazed by how little seemingly erudite non Muslims know about Islam.

The box before me contained pictures Kaveh had chosen as the best of his 8 years covering the war. He had hoped to have them published as a coffee book style record of the conflict. Essentially this was his life’s work. He was visibly saddened to report to me that no one would publish. ‘No one want to know about this’ he told me. I was stunned. The pictures I saw that day were the most remarkable record of war that I had ever seen. Black and white imagery tells a tale that no words can fully describe. I came away convinced that everyone should be given the opportunity to experience this wonderful lesson on what War really means. And see the ineluctable connection between religion and war. However it is clear to me that only those directly affected by war have any idea of the enormity of its horrors and perhaps for this reason there is little demand for promoting any insight into wars horrors.

Kaveh was also extremely knowledgeable on the Shia fundamentalist Ayatollah Khomeini. The man essentially responsible for creating the conditions in Iran that motivated US interest in removing him from power and leading to the Iraqi attack that started the Iran Iraq war. It was he who declared the fatwa on Salman Rushdie. (That stands to this day as another pillar of Islamic credibility.) Memorably Kaveh told me that this fellow lived on a diet of – Onions and yogurt, surviving to the ripe old age of 88, before departing to join the 70 allotted virgins awaiting his attentions. Considering how long eternity is, I think 70 virgins is a pretty ungenerous number. Lets face it, after 70 goes, you'd have to spend the rest of eternity without so much as a single virgin.

But again I digress. In 2003 I was watching news TV when I heard ‘BBC reporter Kaveh Golestan was killed today in Iraq.’ I shed a tear at the tragic irony. He stood on a landmine. An Iranian killed standing on an Iraqi landmine. An introduction to his amazing photographic legacy can be seen in part on the web as presented by his wife Hengameh on
kavehgolestan.com

And so, as I watched the remarkable documentary by Terry Lloyd I was reminded of this wonderful friendship from my past. I was particularly pleased to see that his journalism appeared to be true to the stories I recalled from Kaveh. Especially the circumstances of American support for Iraq, motivated by anti Iran feeling. To emphasise this resolve, in 1988, after Reagan announced to the World that ‘Iran will never be allowed to win this war’, American ship USS Vincennes fired on an Iranian airlines Boeing 737 killing all 290 people on board. I imagine this, along with the powerful US military support for Iraq sent a firm message to the Ayotolah. (Eventually, long after the war ended, the US paid out 131 Million dollars compensation to those civilian victims without ever apologising.)

So moved was I by this fine body of work that I googled Terry Lloyd in order to contact him with congratulations.

Sadly I learned that he too had died in Iraq. In March 2006, in suspicious circumstances.
‘Unlawfully killed’ by American bullets whilst reporting for ITN. His death is, according to the National Union of Journalists, a war crime for which American soldiers should be brought to trial.
BBC article
I can almost hear President Bush explaining that one as ‘It will be a cold day in hell before we punish honest American Patriots for a small mistake like this. After all, this guy was not on our side.’

So there you have it. I hope I have piqued your interest in finding out more about a conflict which holds many lessons for us, especially in light of the breakdown in relations between America and Iraq and the subsequent developments in Iran and indeed the world of Islam. Has mankind ever contrived a more heinous weapon of War than Religion. Of course, those who ignore the mistakes of History are condemned to repeat them.

Heres a song I wrote about it - called THE PARADISE KEY

Wikipedia article

Louis Ribeiro. 23 October 2007.

2007-10-17T10:19:00.000+01:00

I am sad to report that Louis Ribeiro died today. He had been ill and in pain for some months, weakened by cancer. He held on just long enough to see his beloved 'Bokke' prevail in Paris on Saturday night before slipping into a coma from which he was released this morning with his wife Christine at his side.

A lovely musician and a gentle soul.

The Jive Nation Web Page

Who had Rugby thrown out of the Olympics?

2007-10-11T09:07:00.000+01:00

Who holds the only gold medal for Rugby at the Olympic games?

With the World Cup semi between England and France looming, it is surely incumbent upon the English press to diminish the French by all means possible. This includes scouring the History books for stories of French Rugby's previous form. Here is my favorite Rugby tale.

Its 1924.

Rubgy is included in the Olympic games for the third games running. The final is to be in Paris, at the Stade Colombe. The finalists are France and America.

The American team comprises volunteers, mostly from Stanford University football and basketball teams. They have not played much Rugby before and the French expect the gold medal. The US team travel some 6,000 miles by boat to reach this game. In France prior to the match, every possible hardship is visited upon the American team. A TV crew documenting their progress is banned from the ground. The team are denied proper training facilities. They are banished to a local park where their personal belongings are promptly stolen as they train. They are roundly shunned and disrespected by every French person they come in contact with.

Matchday. 40,000 French fans fill the ground. Its the first final of the games and they expect the gold. They have sung their national anthem with tremendous vigor. They are proud to be French.

The Americans however are pissed off by the way they have been treated. They raise their game spectacularly and triumph. 17 - 3.

The French react badly. They start by knocking out Gideon Nelson, one of the American reserves, who is felled by a walking stick to the back of the head. The crowd then turn on the small pockets of American fans, beating them mercilessly. The heady brew of defeat and disappointment in the face of raging nationalism has turned the French crowd into a pack of rabid dogs. Broken American bodies are carried down to pitchside to be rushed to Hospital.

The star American player, Norman Cleaveland reported 'I thought they were dead. We were sure it was only a matter of time before they got to us.'

Rugby was thrown out of the Olympics.

Those who perpetuate the myth that 'rugby is a hooligans game played by gentlemen' should consider the French.

This incident may also help explain America's interest in the game of Rugby, despite being the only nation to hold double Olympic gold for Rugby. (America also won the Rubgy gold at the previous Olympics of 1920 in Antwerp, defeating France 8 - 0). America remain the Olympic champions of rugby, having never lost the gold.

3 remarkable people. Joni, Kurt and Dmitry

2007-09-28T10:30:00.000+01:00

Joni Mitchell has a new album. The title track SHINE is quite remarkable. While I was listening to this inspiring music, I came across two more remarkable people.

Kurt Knispel. Possibly the most remarkable tank warrior ever. 168 confirmed tank kills before dying in his Tiger Tank in 1945 aged just 23.

Kurt Knispel was born in 1922 in the former Sudetenland. He had a carefree childhood and grew up to be a broad shouldered lad of medium height, whose dark hair was always a little too long, something he would be chided for later in life.

After completing his apprenticeship in an automobile factory in 1940 Knispel applied to join the armored forces. For his basic training Knispel went to the Panzer Replacement Training Battalion at Sagan in Lower Silesia.

On 1 October 1940 (Aged 18) he was transferred to the 3rd Company of the 29th Panzer Regiment, 12th Panzer Div. Knispel completed his training as a loader and gunner in a Pz IV.

Knispel was gunner in Pz IV under Lt. Hellman at the time of Barbarossa, where he participated in the initial assault as part of Panzergruppe 3, LVII Army Corps (later LVII Panzer Corps) commanded by General Adolf Kuntzen. Knispel saw action from Yarzevo to the gates of Stalingrad, in the North around the Leningrad-Tikhvin area and also in the Caucasus under Mackensen.

Knispel returned to Putlos at the end of January 1943 and became familiar with the new Tiger tanks, at this time, Knispel was credited with 12 kills.(Aged 21)

From Putlos, a group of men was sent to 500th Panzer Battalion at Paderborn. This group was led by Oberfeldwebel Fedensack and included Kurt Knispel, it was to become the 1st Company of the elite 503rd Heavy Panzer Battalion, and fought at Kursk as flank cover to 7th PzDiv (Armee Abteilung Kempf). Knispel saw further action during the relief attack on the Cherkassy Pocket (a.k.a. Khorsun Pocket), Vinnitsa, Jampol, Kamenets-Podolsk. The Company re-equipped with Tiger IIs and fought around Caen and the retreat from Normandy. From there back to the Russian front and action around Mexotur, Tookszentmiklos, Cebled, Kekskemet, the Gran bridgehead, Gyula, Neutra, Bab Castle. (In one action, Knispel reports 24 enemy hits on his Tiger II), Laa and finally Wostitz, where he was killed in action.

With 168 (all confirmed, possibly as high as 195) kills, Kurt Knispel was by far the most successful tank soldier of the Second World War. He fought in virtually every type of tank as loader, gunner and commander. He was awarded the Iron Cross, First Class after destroying his fiftieth enemy tank and the Tank Assault Badge in Gold after far more than 100 tank battles. When Knispel had destroyed 126 enemy tanks (with another 20 unconfirmed kills) he was awarded the German Cross in Gold.

Kurt became the only non-commissioned officer of the German tank arm to be named in the Wehrmacht communique. As commander of a Tiger and then a King Tiger Knispel destroyed another 42 enemy tanks. This raised his total to 168 enemy tanks destroyed, making him by far the world's top "tank killer". Although it was richly deserved, he was never awarded the Knight's Cross although he was recommended four times. Possibly because his hair was too long and his appearance too scruffy.

And then theres the quite remarkable Russian, Dmitriy Lavrinenko.

Dmitry took his tank into battle 28 times, scoring 52 victories before he was killed defending Moscow in 1941. Aged 27.

In October of 1941 his T-34 destroyed 16 German tanks in a single combat.

What a shame Dmitry and Kurt never had Joni Mitchell to inspire them to direct their remarkable talents towards a higher purpose.

Farewell to 'Special J'. ( Jose Mourinho)

2007-09-20T10:22:00.000+01:00

It came as no surprise to me to see Special J ousted from the Abramovich toy box. Two principal reasons. 1. He is not Israeli and 2. He is not willing to be an AA (Abramovich acolyte).

Special J brought Chelsea unprecedented success.

Abramovich brought Chelsea unprecedented revulsion amongst football fans.

As that great revealer, the passage of time, will surely show. Special J will continue making valued contributions to the game while Abramovich will enjoy ever increasing revulsion amongst all (Non Israeli) football fans for diminishing the beautiful game in the way that his 'Money is everything no matter where it came from and what was done to get it' philosophy, unsurprisingly, promotes.

Michel Platini's views should be considered here. (See his letter to Gordon Brown of yesterday... google 'Platini letter Brown').

How Frank, Terry, Joe Cole and the rest who enjoyed Special J's ways so abundantly can bring themselves to take orders from a trained Israeli soldier (What is Avram's personal count of dead Palestinians one should wonder) whilst playing alongside another trained killer, Ben Sahar, will decide the future of both their reputations (outside of Israel), as well as Chelsea's.

As Special J considers his In-Box this morning, one can imagine Barcelona, LA Galaxy and any other number of major players in World Football lining up to court his services.
When Avram leaves it is unlikely that there will be interest beyond Tel Aviv Rangers.

And what of Abramovich and Chelsea?

Are the Chelsea fans really that dumb?

Carbon Footprint

2007-08-02T08:45:00.000+01:00

There are now no cars on Riverbank. Yes its true. Both cars were sold ten days ago. I now use a bicycle for transport. The advantages are obvious. Improved fitness and tremendous financial saving. The disadvantages are mostly to do with the weather. Cycling in a downpour is not fun.

My goal is to make it to the one Month mark without buying a car. And in this time my reduced carbon footprint will help redress the imbalance caused by the Chinese and their dreadful disregard for the environment.

Having no car has introduced us to the joys of home delivered online supermarket goods. And what a great discovery that has been.

Maroon 5 and Mel Gibson

2007-05-29T10:11:00.000+01:00

Over the weekend we had two new experiences. One was the new Maroon 5 album, received with keen interest after the superb songs on the first album suggested the emergence of a great talent. This album is Pants. Big girls pants. All girth and no lace. More sweat than perfume. In fact I feel wasting the 30 minutes of my listening time that it took to see this body of work for what it is will take some getting back from. All the band qualities that made the songs on the first album come to life are absent.

Instead we have a sorry array of production techniques by a number of very different and unconnected producers stamping their ego's over what turns out sounding like what the son of Prince and Michael Jackson would do if he was 3 years old, and stumbled into the room marked 'Daddy's crap songs of 80's groove music that never made it past the demo phase because they have no groove and no lyric and are crap.'

The best thing I can say about this experience is that if and when Maroon 5 ever release another album, I will not be conned out of a half hour of my listening life again.

Then theres Mel Gibson. We sat down to watch his movie APOCALYPTO with some trepidation. Forewarned that we were in store for a blood fest featuring a cast of unknown Indians and Mexicans, and without a word of English being spoken. Some three hours later I stood up to applaud the masterwork by Mr Gibson, who has undoubtedly achieved a level of excellence quite rare in this throw away entertainment industry.

So - in conclusion. Avoid Maroon 5 (Unless you have issues with Bulimia that prohibit the use of fingers in the mouth) and make sure you get to see APOCALYPTO.

The Olver Mothers

2007-04-25T10:17:00.000+01:00

Zara Olver, 21, her 48-year-old mother Carole, and sisters Serenza Olver, 29, and Danielle Olver, 19 were all round Zaras place. Her two kids, a boy of 2 and a girl of 3 were in the room. Whereupon the 4 adults present encouraged the children to attack each other. Motivated I suspect by boredom.

Toddler fight.

The girl was made to smack the boy in the face. He cried. They shouted at him to smack her back. The adults were royally entertained. Better than raising fighting dogs, and cheaper. One threw a hair brush into the fight to encourage a participant to use it as a weapon.

The women video taped the amusing and entertaining spectacle. Laughing and shouting encouragement on the video as the fight progressed. 'Hit her in the face you wimp.' Both children appeared extremely traumatised in the video.

The childrens father - a soldier - serving in Iraq, returned home on leave. Saw the vidio and called in social services. Faced with the criminal nature of their behaviour, the women said they saw nothing wrong with 'toughening up' the kids.

The judge sentenced them to 12 Months each for child cruelty -suspended. The children were placed in the care of the Fathers Mother.

Zara, Serenza, Danielle and their mum Carol see nothing wrong with their behavior.

So truth is what you choose to believe. And ignorance is king in the house of Olver.

Did the Judge get that one right I wonder.

My Space

2007-04-12T09:52:00.000+01:00

Due to unprecedented public demand, I have now put a few songs onto a myspace account.

Listen here

Israeli/American attack on Iran.

2007-04-03T13:11:00.000+01:00

I have received an extraordinary number of emails today - suggesting that a Nuclear attack on Iran is imminent. The prevailing thinking in these e-mails can be summarised in these points:

The 15 British sailors currently under arrest in Teheran. This prepares the British public for adjusting their thinking to an American/Israeli attack on Iran as being justified. Saving our own is a noble cause.

The chain-smoking single mom sailor - LEADING SEAMAN FAYE TURNEY (26) was interviewed by the BBC hours before her arrest. Suggesting some advance knowledge of events.

Huge resources, warships such as the USS John C. Stennis, a Carrier of such staggering might that the Gods themselves would tremble at her thundering Horn, are moving into convenient positioning for a strike on Iran.

http://www.cvn74.navy.mil/operationIngulf_27Mar07.html

Americans Christians would not accept another batch of body bags coming back from the Middle East. Ground offensive resources would not be sufficient without a draft. A draft would end Bush’s ongoing popularity with Middle America. So, the only way forward is a nuclear strike.

Tony’s hopes of being remembered as a great leader – especially in this time of Thatcher praising for her fine warmongery in the 80’s, seem destined for dashing on the rocks of his broken Iraqi dreams. Its Tony’s last chance saloon for spectacular success in War.

Varying intelligence reports, purportedly originating from Russia, suggesting that this Easter weekend is a target date for such an attack. http://www.rense.com/general76/hit.htm

Israeli concerns over Iran's nuclear advances demand a characteristic reaction.

Although these various points do suggest a trend, I for one do not think that President Bush would risk his considerable reputation by becoming only the second US President to use Nuclear weapons against a foe. Not yet anyhow.

Andrew. 3 April,07.

Cooper Thames Ditton

2007-03-29T12:14:00.000+01:00

Last week I took my car for a routine service to BMW to Cooper Thames Ditton. The service was disgusting. A 300 pound routine service bumped up to 800 pounds with sundries like - 125 pounds to change the coolant. Generally shocking experience, topped off by fact that the central locking was not working after the service.

I wrote to BMW. And they agreed to fix the damage they had done. I dropped the car off as agreed, and went to collect it when called. The car had been damaged. Hit by another car during the night on the BMW forecourt. The Coopers supervisor said they would 'sort it out'. The next day Bernie Smythe called from Coopers to say 'Yes it was hit on our forecourt, but as we had not checked the car in we are not liable, so sort it out yourself.'

If you are considering buying a BMW, or having your BMW services by Cooper Thames Ditton you may wish to watch developments in this matter. My letter to BMW is copied below.

29 March 2007.
Cooper Thames Ditton.

Dear Sir,

Further to my last letter of 21 March 2007, I write as follows:

1. The matters raised within the above letter were further discussed in a telephone call from your office on 22 March. Amongst other things, we agreed that I would return the car in order for the door lock to be looked at again as it had not been properly fixed on the first visit to your garage.

2. We agreed that I would leave the car (as had happened previously) on your forecourt the evening before and the keys left in the deposit box.

3. On Monday night at approximately 7.30pm, I parked the car on your forecourt as instructed. I deposited the keys through the security slot into the care of BMW Thames Ditton. The car was therefore within your custody and control from that point.

4. On Tuesday 27th March 2007, I came to collect the car. I noted that:

(i) The passenger door lock issue that I was previously charged £40 to inspect - was repaired - however I was charged a further £146.00, apparently representing 50% of the labour charge. This would mean that the normal labour charge would have been £300, which I find hard to believe.

(ii) The car was not cleaned despite you having advised me that it had been.

(iii) There was a substantial and noticeable dent on the driver side. I pointed this out to the attending mechanic. He told me that it was there when the car was checked in. I assured him it was not there when I left the vehicle. The supervisor was called and both he and the mechanic looked at the car and told me they would establish who damaged the vehicle by CCTV. The supervisor assured me, ‘not to worry, we will take care of it.’ On that basis I left with my car.

7. On Wednesday 28th March, I received a call from ‘Bernie Smythe.’ He advised me that you had established that the vehicle was indeed damaged whilst parked on your forecourt in advance of the service. He told me that you had identified the offending vehicle, however because you had not signed the vehicle in, the damage is not your responsibility.

8. I felt his tone throughout the conversation was supercilious, and aggressive. I pointed out to him that I had parked the car where instructed, and I had left the keys in the drop box as agreed with yourselves. I suggested that it appeared to me that Cooper Thames Ditton were simply fobbing off a problem with no regard for the customer. To this he said nothing. I then told him that I was deeply unsatisfied with this explanation, and unless he reviewed his position, my next call would be to my solicitor. To which he replied.

“Good, well off you go then.”

To recap:

I brought my car in for a service and it was damaged whilst in your care and control. I was told that you would take care of the damage however instead I was subjected to a telephone call from Mr Smythe, whose competence in customer relations must be considered grievously inadequate, telling me that your company are having nothing to do with the incident. I find this insulting, and a sorry reflection on the prevailing management policy at Coopers Thames Ditton.

I do not believe your cavalier disregard for BMWs reputation as demonstrated by your representative Mr Bernie Smythe should pass unchallenged.

Before I conclude my report to Jim O’Donell, I will await your comments for inclusion.

Yours sincerely,

Andrew Brel.

English Footballers

2007-03-29T10:48:00.000+01:00

After last nights debacle, a glaring truth becomes obvious.
English footballers are thick.
Not thick as in 'excuse me, how do I tie a shoe lace' but seriously thick.

Perhaps the massive earnings these lads are subject to at such an early age contributes towards a delusional sense of self importance whereby the need to develop a brain that works is lost to the need to buy a better baby Bentley than Blackburns Bentley.

When a team of amateurs like Andorra can play 11 men who match Englands 11, as was the case last night, certainly for the first half, an explanation is required.

The way forward for English football lies in the head. Players displaying the stupidity of an Ashley Cole for instance should be forcibly taught to read and write, no matter how determined their resistance.

One can only speculate on whether the total collective IQ of the England team would exceed triple figures.

Thank you Ronnie Johnson for pointing out the achilles heel of English football.

Riverbank News

2007-03-28T10:58:00.000+01:00

Yes its true. This is my blog, where I will be posting details of conditions here on the Riverbank.