The next few days will be busy. Twelve weeks away is a long time and I have to make sure that Madam Paddy Paws isn't left entirely to open her own food sachets, cans and biscuits. Also she tends to get uppity about her soil box not being cleaned regularly. And then there are things like Quarterly bills to be paid - and which, incredibly, you can't pay in advance.
This time of year is interesting in Tehran as well since I will be arriving in the Autumn when the weather is still quite warm, and coming home when there is a strong possibility of thick snow on the ground. Yes, Tehran gets snow, a couple of feet of it at a time so I am told. So the suitcase will have to include clothing for both the heat and the cold, not an easy set of choices to make, especially as we are travelling Cattle Class and the baggage allowance is restricted.
Blogging from there could be interesting. I will do my best, but I make no promises. At least I am now registered with the UK Foreign Office so the Embassy is aware I am there and I am assured will be checking on us from time to time.
Sunday, 13 September 2009
Saturday, 12 September 2009
Just who are the Fascists now?
Funny how anyone who disagrees with this shower of closet Communists currently disgracing our Parliament and calling themselves a government is automatically lablled a "Fascist". Yet the "bully-boy" tactics of the Left are "a popular expression of anti-fascism". A government Minister speaking to the Guardian (Or Gruaniad), that ultimate Socialist Propaganda rag, has branded the "English Defence League" as "Fascists" and likened their protests to those led by Moseley and his Black-shirts in 1936.
The protest held outside a mosque in Harrow to mark the anniversary of 9/11 yesterday was disrupted by the "Anti-Fascist" movement and this, the Minister seems to think, is a perfectly acceptable tactic by his supporters on the Left. It doesn't seem to occur to any of them that these are exactly the tactics used by the Soviets to seize control of East Berlin, to disrupt any attempt at a multi-party election in Eastern Europe and to impose one party communism everywhere they could.
I have no sympathy with "demonstrations". Generally they are a waste of time and cause unnecessary disruption for law abiding citizens, but there does come a point at which one has to ask why this government, composed entirely of professional "protesters" (All of them involved in protests since their student days, and all of them admirers of that psychopath Che Guevarra) is so determined to brand anything to the right of their increasingly Leninist/Stalinist vision of "freedom" as "Fascist".
If anyone is Fascist today it is the Labour Party and their cohorts in the "Anti-Fascist" movement with their determination to stifle any debate and any dissent on their ideological mantras.
The protest held outside a mosque in Harrow to mark the anniversary of 9/11 yesterday was disrupted by the "Anti-Fascist" movement and this, the Minister seems to think, is a perfectly acceptable tactic by his supporters on the Left. It doesn't seem to occur to any of them that these are exactly the tactics used by the Soviets to seize control of East Berlin, to disrupt any attempt at a multi-party election in Eastern Europe and to impose one party communism everywhere they could.
I have no sympathy with "demonstrations". Generally they are a waste of time and cause unnecessary disruption for law abiding citizens, but there does come a point at which one has to ask why this government, composed entirely of professional "protesters" (All of them involved in protests since their student days, and all of them admirers of that psychopath Che Guevarra) is so determined to brand anything to the right of their increasingly Leninist/Stalinist vision of "freedom" as "Fascist".
If anyone is Fascist today it is the Labour Party and their cohorts in the "Anti-Fascist" movement with their determination to stifle any debate and any dissent on their ideological mantras.
Friday, 11 September 2009
A step too far?
There can be no doubt that Labour are a Party that wants to control, to nanny, to remove choice and restrict liberty. The problem I have with that is that they always try to make it appear as if there is some pressing "moral" reason to make these sweeping and often draconian changes. The latest set of nannying legislation is a case in point - from now on, if the legislation is approved, every person who voluntarily takes a neighbour's kids - or his/her children's little friends - anywhere for any event, will require a Criminal Record Bureau check.
The Minister for Children (I kid you not, there are Ministers for Women, the Disabled and for Minorities - but NOT for Men!) is desperately trying to tell us that this will not have any impact on anyone who is "not in regular contact with children", by which she means not more than once a month, or in "special contact" which apparently means two or three times a week. This will impact badly on the parents who collect kids from playgroups for their friends, or take kids to sports practice, fetch kids from clubs etc, etc ... And will it protect children? My guess is probably not at all. It is, after all is said and done, just a bureaucratic exercise to check whether you have ever been accused or convicted of "inappropriate behaviour toward children." It also impacts on people who help out with "vulnerable adults" in other words those who suffer under the "Care in the Community" abuse licensed by Whitehall as a means of neglecting them until the commit an offence or become violent. Mark my words this legislation will be interpreted by every Town Hall Jobsworth and every Civil Service parasite as a license to expand their empires exponentially and to interfere in every parent's life to a degree expressly forbidden in Magna Carta and in our laws which protected our right to privacy until this present socialist soviet came to power.
The whole balance between State and the Individual has been changed. Westminster/Whitehall has take upon itself the right to dictate how we live, how we behave, what we think and what we may say in public or private. Yes, children and vulnerable adults need protection, but is it necessary to criminalise the entire adult population in order to protect them? No it is not, nor will it actually achieve anything other than to provide thousands more jobs for the jobsworths Whitehall attracts to itself in much the same manner that flies are drawn to a stinking carcass.
It is probably way too late to get this stupid and draconian legislation stopped, but it is encouraging to hear, on BBC Radio 4, a mother of small children telling the Minister that she thinks it is both stupid and unnecessary. Sadly, the Minister refused to listen to a word of it, sticking to her "I know best" and extremely vacuous arguments. It will not be long before anyone attending any function at which children are present will be required to undergo a "CRB" check before being permitted to sit in the same room as children they are not related too. One way I suppose to bring about Labour's other ambition - to destroy Christianity and Church going, since it is impossible to avoid having children and adults in the same space there!
Unfortunately I doubt the Conservatives have the guts to repeal this latest piece of stupidity either.
The Minister for Children (I kid you not, there are Ministers for Women, the Disabled and for Minorities - but NOT for Men!) is desperately trying to tell us that this will not have any impact on anyone who is "not in regular contact with children", by which she means not more than once a month, or in "special contact" which apparently means two or three times a week. This will impact badly on the parents who collect kids from playgroups for their friends, or take kids to sports practice, fetch kids from clubs etc, etc ... And will it protect children? My guess is probably not at all. It is, after all is said and done, just a bureaucratic exercise to check whether you have ever been accused or convicted of "inappropriate behaviour toward children." It also impacts on people who help out with "vulnerable adults" in other words those who suffer under the "Care in the Community" abuse licensed by Whitehall as a means of neglecting them until the commit an offence or become violent. Mark my words this legislation will be interpreted by every Town Hall Jobsworth and every Civil Service parasite as a license to expand their empires exponentially and to interfere in every parent's life to a degree expressly forbidden in Magna Carta and in our laws which protected our right to privacy until this present socialist soviet came to power.
The whole balance between State and the Individual has been changed. Westminster/Whitehall has take upon itself the right to dictate how we live, how we behave, what we think and what we may say in public or private. Yes, children and vulnerable adults need protection, but is it necessary to criminalise the entire adult population in order to protect them? No it is not, nor will it actually achieve anything other than to provide thousands more jobs for the jobsworths Whitehall attracts to itself in much the same manner that flies are drawn to a stinking carcass.
It is probably way too late to get this stupid and draconian legislation stopped, but it is encouraging to hear, on BBC Radio 4, a mother of small children telling the Minister that she thinks it is both stupid and unnecessary. Sadly, the Minister refused to listen to a word of it, sticking to her "I know best" and extremely vacuous arguments. It will not be long before anyone attending any function at which children are present will be required to undergo a "CRB" check before being permitted to sit in the same room as children they are not related too. One way I suppose to bring about Labour's other ambition - to destroy Christianity and Church going, since it is impossible to avoid having children and adults in the same space there!
Unfortunately I doubt the Conservatives have the guts to repeal this latest piece of stupidity either.
Thursday, 10 September 2009
Hanseatic Traders
Lubeck is one of the ancient "Hanseatic League" cities, whose wealth was built on trade with almost all of Europe. This was especially true of the Baltic trade as its position near Denmark, Sweden and Norway and to the Eastern Baltic gave it a strategic position. The River Trave gives direct access to the city, though the modern port is at Travemunde just inside the mouth of the river and a few miles from the ancient city. The first picture shows a fairly modern square rigged barquentine (Square rigged on the fore and main masts and fore and aft rigged on the mizzen!) in the Trave.
Just astern of her is a replica of one of the "cogs" that carried the trade in this part of the world from several centuries. These ships had high Forecastles and Sterncastles and a simple sail plan. The crew shared the space below decks with the cargo, cooking facilities were fairly basic and as for toilets ....
Wednesday, 9 September 2009
Global irritants....
While listening to the Met Office and the latest "proofs" of a "hotter than usual summer" and "unseasonably warm weather" doom and gloom I found myself observing a row of trees who have obviously decided to ignore the Met Office, Greenstrife and Fiends of the Earth and get on with shedding their leaves. The Autumnal colouring of their leaves is well advanced. It was then that I noticed that the House Martins and the Swifts have begun their migration to warmer climes and, on arriving home, noticed that the swallows who have successfully raised a pair of chicks under the eaves of my flat have departed.
Talking to some American and Canadian friends via the internet I have learned that the migrations they normally expect to see from now onwards began several weeks ago, and there is also evidence that, far from warming, the sea temperatures off the New England shores are cooler than usual. Even the much trumpetted "El Nino" threatening the Pacific West Coast is apparently diminishing. So whay are the "Climate Camp" still banging the drum for their favoured "the Earth will become like Venus of we don't cut out all CO2 production?" Well, I suspect its partly because they are now so far down this road and up each other's rear ends on the data that they dare not admit they may have it a teensy-weensy bit wrong. Worse, they have the politicians rabbiting on about it now without any understanding of the manner in which the data is "smoothed", cropped and adjusted to fit the picture that the "researchers" have created in order to get their hands on the lucrative "research" grants now beginning to flow their way.
The climate is changing, has been since the last Ice Age began to thaw, and the most pressing thing facing us is overpopulation. So, yet again, we have a "climate conference" scheduled to happen in Copenhagen at which more meaningless numbers (Like the statement that British Industry and Commerce must reduce their "greenhouse" emmissions by 90% by 2050) will be concocted without any scientific foundation. Anyone who dares to offer an alternative solution or hypothesis will be howlwedd out of the venue or gagged and the world's worst polluters, the Third World countries whose massive overpopulation is already depleting water sources, rain forests and arable soil reservoirs at an unprecedented rate, are to be allowed to continue to pollute while the west is dragged back to some mythical "eco-friendly" past. The insistence on using "Carbon Emmission per Capita" as a means of determining how much we pollute. This means that "Developing Nations" which have very large populations, can pump out huge amounts of CO2 and yet show up as less polluting than, say, the UK or the US.
The climate is changing, but in which direction and by what cause - I remain totally sceptical of the current hysterical media/politician and Greenstrife/Fiends of the Earth assertion that we will soon all be drowned by 20 metre rises in sea levels unless we stop bathing, stop manufacturing, stop travelling and start living in mud huts again. Do take a read of the latest post on "Predicting Global Temperatures" at "Watts up with That."
I shall watch the Copenhagen propaganda campaign with deep distrust.
Talking to some American and Canadian friends via the internet I have learned that the migrations they normally expect to see from now onwards began several weeks ago, and there is also evidence that, far from warming, the sea temperatures off the New England shores are cooler than usual. Even the much trumpetted "El Nino" threatening the Pacific West Coast is apparently diminishing. So whay are the "Climate Camp" still banging the drum for their favoured "the Earth will become like Venus of we don't cut out all CO2 production?" Well, I suspect its partly because they are now so far down this road and up each other's rear ends on the data that they dare not admit they may have it a teensy-weensy bit wrong. Worse, they have the politicians rabbiting on about it now without any understanding of the manner in which the data is "smoothed", cropped and adjusted to fit the picture that the "researchers" have created in order to get their hands on the lucrative "research" grants now beginning to flow their way.
The climate is changing, has been since the last Ice Age began to thaw, and the most pressing thing facing us is overpopulation. So, yet again, we have a "climate conference" scheduled to happen in Copenhagen at which more meaningless numbers (Like the statement that British Industry and Commerce must reduce their "greenhouse" emmissions by 90% by 2050) will be concocted without any scientific foundation. Anyone who dares to offer an alternative solution or hypothesis will be howlwedd out of the venue or gagged and the world's worst polluters, the Third World countries whose massive overpopulation is already depleting water sources, rain forests and arable soil reservoirs at an unprecedented rate, are to be allowed to continue to pollute while the west is dragged back to some mythical "eco-friendly" past. The insistence on using "Carbon Emmission per Capita" as a means of determining how much we pollute. This means that "Developing Nations" which have very large populations, can pump out huge amounts of CO2 and yet show up as less polluting than, say, the UK or the US.
The climate is changing, but in which direction and by what cause - I remain totally sceptical of the current hysterical media/politician and Greenstrife/Fiends of the Earth assertion that we will soon all be drowned by 20 metre rises in sea levels unless we stop bathing, stop manufacturing, stop travelling and start living in mud huts again. Do take a read of the latest post on "Predicting Global Temperatures" at "Watts up with That."
I shall watch the Copenhagen propaganda campaign with deep distrust.
Tuesday, 8 September 2009
Budget savings....
I hear on the Radio that Mister Cameron, leader of the Conservative Party, thinks that cutting the number of MP's and streamlining the cost of Parliament will help save some money toward the huge Budget Deficit the Labour Party have, in classic Labour mismanagement style, built up. While I applaud the suggestion of a reduction in the numbers of parasites trying to justify their existence with ever more nuisamce and pointless legislation, I am also concerned at the suggestion that the present set up demonstrates that we live in a "robust" and "effective" democracy.
I do not believe that our "democracy" is either democratic or robust. The current ballot system of allowing the electorate to vote if they feel like it and the "winner takes all" system of vote counting is not democratic and is certainly not representative. We need, if people are to start believing in the system again, to have every vote cast count and go toward electing a representative. Every vote must count and voting should not be a matter of personal choice, it should be a Civic Duty.
A smaller more efficient Parliament would certainly save some money for the Treasury, but more importantly, we also need to trim the vast horde of Civil Servants back as well. The Civil Service is the single largest political force in the land and it is entirely unelected. It is single-handedly responsible for all of the waste and for the frustration of real democracy in this country. Never miond what Parliament or the Minister has decreed, what happens is what the Civil Service will allow.
If Mr Cameron is serious about reforming Parliament and making significant savings in the cost of government here are my suggestions for him.
1. Reduce the Civil Service and make the Mandarins that run it personally responsible for the delivery, on time and on budget of any project under their control and for the delivery of exactly the wishes of Parliament.
2. Reduce the number of MP's - possibly by deleting the Scottish MPs who no longer represent they people they purport to govern as the Scottish Parliament now rules in Scotland and the Welsh Assembly in Wales - why should they vote on matters affecting only the English?
3. Freeze all non-specialist positions and recruiting in the Civil Service and forbid the appointment of anyone to any "management" position who is not a specialist in the field to be managed.
4. Close the Civil Service College.
5. Re-organise all the Departments of State and make it law that there is to be full co-operation between departments with no department permitted to duplicate any regulation or other legislation which already exists and could be extended to cover their activity.
6. Create a permanent legislation scrutiny Commission with power to reject any legislation if it already exists, may conflict with existing legislation or may impinge upon any of our constitutional "Rights".
7. Appoint a Commission to consolidate all existing legislation in the UK, streamline it and make recommendations for the repeal of all duplicating legislation or conflicting laws.
Finally, it is ludicrous that the Treasury's annual round of "savings" demanded across the board in government departments invariably result in increased spending. Departments must be compelled to take full account and responsibility for the consequences of their actions, particularly when a cut in budget is being proposed. All too often a cut in, for example, defence purchases results in job losses and an increase in the Social Security budget which is disproportionate to the supposed "saving" made in the original "cut".
Parliamentary credibility? No way, not as long as it is run by politicians, for politicians and by politicians. And the same goes for Whitehall and the Civil Service. Trustworthy they are not.
I do not believe that our "democracy" is either democratic or robust. The current ballot system of allowing the electorate to vote if they feel like it and the "winner takes all" system of vote counting is not democratic and is certainly not representative. We need, if people are to start believing in the system again, to have every vote cast count and go toward electing a representative. Every vote must count and voting should not be a matter of personal choice, it should be a Civic Duty.
A smaller more efficient Parliament would certainly save some money for the Treasury, but more importantly, we also need to trim the vast horde of Civil Servants back as well. The Civil Service is the single largest political force in the land and it is entirely unelected. It is single-handedly responsible for all of the waste and for the frustration of real democracy in this country. Never miond what Parliament or the Minister has decreed, what happens is what the Civil Service will allow.
If Mr Cameron is serious about reforming Parliament and making significant savings in the cost of government here are my suggestions for him.
1. Reduce the Civil Service and make the Mandarins that run it personally responsible for the delivery, on time and on budget of any project under their control and for the delivery of exactly the wishes of Parliament.
2. Reduce the number of MP's - possibly by deleting the Scottish MPs who no longer represent they people they purport to govern as the Scottish Parliament now rules in Scotland and the Welsh Assembly in Wales - why should they vote on matters affecting only the English?
3. Freeze all non-specialist positions and recruiting in the Civil Service and forbid the appointment of anyone to any "management" position who is not a specialist in the field to be managed.
4. Close the Civil Service College.
5. Re-organise all the Departments of State and make it law that there is to be full co-operation between departments with no department permitted to duplicate any regulation or other legislation which already exists and could be extended to cover their activity.
6. Create a permanent legislation scrutiny Commission with power to reject any legislation if it already exists, may conflict with existing legislation or may impinge upon any of our constitutional "Rights".
7. Appoint a Commission to consolidate all existing legislation in the UK, streamline it and make recommendations for the repeal of all duplicating legislation or conflicting laws.
Finally, it is ludicrous that the Treasury's annual round of "savings" demanded across the board in government departments invariably result in increased spending. Departments must be compelled to take full account and responsibility for the consequences of their actions, particularly when a cut in budget is being proposed. All too often a cut in, for example, defence purchases results in job losses and an increase in the Social Security budget which is disproportionate to the supposed "saving" made in the original "cut".
Parliamentary credibility? No way, not as long as it is run by politicians, for politicians and by politicians. And the same goes for Whitehall and the Civil Service. Trustworthy they are not.
Monday, 7 September 2009
Delicious scenery
Lubeck is, as I remarked in an earlier post, the home of the world's best Marzipan. Here are some examples!
This picture is a model of the Berlin Stadtschloss, demolished by the Communists and now under reconstruction.
The Holstentor is the ancient "Water Gate" of the City of Lubeck and was once the middle gate of a series of three each separated by a canal. The Holstentor was saved by a public outcry in the nineteenth century after the other two gates had been demolished.
Even Hans Christian Andersen's "Little Mermaid" gets the treatment in the Niederegger Window! Almost too good to eat.
This picture is a model of the Berlin Stadtschloss, demolished by the Communists and now under reconstruction.
The Holstentor is the ancient "Water Gate" of the City of Lubeck and was once the middle gate of a series of three each separated by a canal. The Holstentor was saved by a public outcry in the nineteenth century after the other two gates had been demolished.
Even Hans Christian Andersen's "Little Mermaid" gets the treatment in the Niederegger Window! Almost too good to eat.
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