DUFF & NONSENSE!

On leadership

Perhaps one of the minute 'good things' about this 'virus-thingie' is that it provides something of a test for our, er, glorious leaders.  So far, my impression is that Boris is doing OK, particularly as the various measures he has been forced to adopt are, in a normal world, absolute anathema to his liberal outlook on life.  The fact that he hesitated before slamming down all those edicts is something in his favour.  Lest you doubt me - you wouldn't dare! - just imagine the orgasms that would have rippled through the ranks of Corbyn's Marxists if they had been given such a chance, and it would take them decades before they gradually and reluctantly cut back on their own powers.

I am not qualified to comment on how 'The Donald' is doing 'over there' but the signs are that he is in the 'Boris spirit' and he can't wait to lift all those bloody edicts!  It says everything you need to know that the Dems attempted to use this emergency to force through some of their favourite bossy and entirely politically motivated schemes, until at the last moment they were shamed into dropping them. 

Just imagine if 'HillBilly' had been President!

 

 

At last, a blast of common-sense

Good old Peter Hitchens who has injected a cold blast of common sense into the hot-house of panic that has been inflated by politicians and newspapers and the self-important medical fraternity.  I will not attempt to paraphrase him, I will merely provide you with some quotes and urge you to read the whole thing:

And so here I am, asking bluntly – is the closedown of the country the right answer to the coronavirus? I’ll be accused of undermining the NHS and threatening public health and all kinds of other conformist rubbish. But I ask you to join me, because if we have this wrong we have a great deal to lose.

I don’t just address this plea to my readers. I think my fellow journalists should ask the same questions. I think MPs of all parties should ask them when they are urged tomorrow to pass into law a frightening series of restrictions on ancient liberties and vast increases in police and state powers.

Spot on!  I thought our 'free press' was ever eager to hold the feet of politicians to the fire to test their efforts to boss us all around.  Instead, this week they have acted like office boys rushing to do the bidding of ministers without ever questioning their suppositions.

Did you know that the Government and Opposition had originally agreed that there would not even be a vote on these measures? Even Vladimir Putin might hesitate before doing anything so blatant. If there is no serious rebellion against this plan in the Commons, then I think we can commemorate tomorrow, March 23, 2020, as the day Parliament died. Yet, as far as I can see, the population cares more about running out of lavatory paper. Praise must go to David Davis and Chris Bryant, two MPs who have bravely challenged this measure. [My emphasis]

Of course, there is no way that I, a man who once failed 'O' level maths, physics and chemistry, could mount a critical challenge to the, er, 'experts' on whom our politicians lean as they slam down a ton of 'rules 'n' regs' on us all and which they will be exceedingly reluctant to ever lift!

If you read anything today, read Hitchens!

 

The 'C' word is verboten!

No, no, not that 'C' word, I mean the medical one which I can never pronounce properly!  I am sick of hearing it and reading it and as far as I am concerned it is banished from these distinguished columns!  There are plenty of other topics to discuss like, er, well, you know … and … well ... whatever!

My main worry in these tricky times is the state of health of the most important woman in Britain - I refer, of course, to 'Her Maj'.  She is an absolute pillar supporting this kingdom and in these tricky times the thought of her death on top of all our other problems would be shattering.  So "here's a life unto your Majesty" and please, Ma'am, just keep on ruling!

We're all 'Corbynistas' now!

My God, I've just been nationalised!  Mind you, I didn't feel a thing - yet!  Well, perhaps it was always a bit of hoax, the idea that we were free, independent agents in a liberal, open society.  Now, however, there is no doubt that we live under close, exceedingly close, governmental supervision.  I am not happy but, on the other hand, I'm not dead, either!  So, should I be grateful? Weeeeell, yes, a bit but I need to know as soon as possible how long this state tyranny is going to last.  I suspect that like other examples, during WWII say, the heavy hand of the State is incredibly quick to grip but agonisingly slow to lift!

So far, 'down 'ere in zunny Zummerzet', nothing much has changed as far as I personally am concerned.  Yes, The Tippling Philosopher has been closed so I will miss my weekly pint next Wednesday.  The nearest Sainsburys Supermarket has a few empty shelves but the essentials remain.  I have been 'ordered' by Boris to stay in doors but as I rarely go out much these days, I can only shrug and mutter, "Am I bovvered?"

It's all utterly boring except, of course, if you catch the 'dreaded lurgi' at which point it can become exceedingly exciting, so I am informed!  Anyway, being British I will simply remember to keep a stiff upper lip, there being no other part of body, these days, which can even gain stiffness, let alone maintain it!

Where 'er ye be', look after yourselves, my friends!

 

 

 

The greatest problem we face

Yes, yes, this damned impertinent virus is a threat and a bloody nuisance but probably sooner rather than later it will be squidged by the efforts of the world's 'Brainiacs' who will invent a 'super-calorific' vaccine which will stop the little rotters in their tracks.  Then, the serious problems will ensue!  How do we rid ourselves of the dictatorial 'rules 'n' regs' and the strutting little 'Commissars' who enforce them which we have blithely volunteered to accept in this emergency?  I do hope that nobody seriously thinks that all the little 'pecksniffs' and 'penpushers' who have been handed power not seen since the days of Clement Attlee will gladly hand them back and retreat back to oblivion without a fight.  It took decades before 'that woman' rose to power and wielded an axe to cut their massed ranks back down to size.

It will be a stern fight - have we the politicians to fight it?

 

 

So, what is there to say . . . ?

'Sweet Fanny Adams' is the only answer I can come up with which is absolute torture for a self-important, opinionated, old bore like me!  Politics has withered on the vine and the only subject of what passes for news these days is that damned 'bugaboo' which dominates all the headlines.  Even so, there was one small headline in The Telegraph that caught my eye this morning.  They are running a daily total of infection and death stats in the UK.  Are you ready for a shock?  Then read this:

Total Infections in the UK:  1543

Total deaths in the UK:  55

Eh?  What?  Is that all?  But I was expecting to have to step over the bodies in the streets when I next ignore Boris's order for me not to leave my home because I'm 80 years of age!  (Oh yes, Boris, and are you going to do my shopping for me?  Thought not!)  I urge you all to read Gavin Mortimer's excellent piece at The Spectator today in which he revisits Samuel Pepys' plague diaries of 1655.  Now, that was a proper plague and a half!  Don't worry, you won't catch anything!

 

 

 

"Don't panic, Capt. Mainwaring!"

'Thus spake' the ineffable 'Cpl Jones' always as a prelude to him taking off in a welter of panic!  Happily - so far! - there appears to be little sign of panic amongst my fellow subjects despite the floods of grim warnings rising upwards above our ankles.  'If the bugs don't get'cha then the market crash will!' seems to be the favourite song of the moment.  Even so, as I look about me, I see no signs of panic - yet! - and I hope and believe that the phlegmatic will win over the panic!

The only appropriate tune to whistle as we, so to speak, 'dodge the bullets' is, of course, "Que sera sera", what will be, will be!  Just do the sensible things and follow the advice of the medical experts - not because they are always right but the chances are that they know better than anyone else!  So far, it seems to me, Boris has hit exactly the right note - truthful but calm and sensible.

Well done, Boris, it is not usually your lip that is renowned for its stiffness but keep it up!

 

 

But ... but ... dammit, we used to run India, now India is running us!

See, Jezza, it takes a Tory to show you Marxists how to really splurge the nation's 'dosh'!  By Jove, that Rishi Sunak 'wallah' knows how to 'splash the cash' judging by his first budget yesterday.  Is it a wise budget in the current 'circs'?  I haven't a clue.  Mind you, I rarely have a clue about anything but, as you may have noticed, that rarely stops me from voicing an opinion!

Mind you, he has a lovely smile, doesn't he?

My instant re-action to his 'Father Christmas^10' impersonation yesterday was to mutter 'blimey' (or something like that!) and to instruct the 'Memsahib' to fetch me a large scotch!  I have lived 80 years listening to greedy, parsimonius Chancellors of the Exchequers dribbling out halfpennies with one hand and grabbing my wallet with the other, so yesterday's mega-splurge took my breath away.  I agree that we live in truly extra-ordinary times and that maybe extra-ordinary measures are required, but even so . . . !

It was all a bit worrying but then a cheerful thought occurred.  If Chancellor Sunak is determined to break Mark Carney's Bank of England then, given my advanced age and the virulent spread of this conanvirus-thingie, then I could be dead in a month or two and and it will be SoD's problem as to how the 'dosh' is to be paid back!

"It's bein' so cheerful as keeps me so young!'

 

 

 

 

By Jove, Boris, did you feel that warning shot fly past?

Well, if you didn't then you are dimmer than a really dim thing!  I don't believe you are but even bright sparks like you can miss 'the bleedin' obvious!'  In yesterday's preliminary vote on allowing the Chinese company branch of government, Huawei into our national internet system, your working majority of 87 was slashed to 24.  The original mad idea of permitting China, a hostile state, access to our computer networks was totally lunatic and verging on traitorous, in fact so much so that I would set MI5 into a 'deep state' investigation into who, if anyone, in government circles was in receipt of massive 'bungs' from an outside source!

In the meantime, I hope and pray that even more Tory MPs 'man up' and prepare to vote against this act of lunacy!

 

 

And, no, I haven't dropped dead with Coronavirus - yet!

Sorry for my absence from these hallowed columns which was caused entirely by lack of energy and, to be frank, lack of anything serious, or even humorous, to say! (Waddya mean, no change there then!?)  Mind you, I can't say I feel particularly inspired today.  The daily news rolls in hour by hour like a never-ending chorus of 'Pte. Frazer's' lament, "We're doomed, I tell ye, we're doomed!" 

Mind you, it's not all bad news.  Not the least of the, er, 'advantages' of the Coronavirus 'plague' is that it has reduced the time available to various nut-job politicians to dream up, or worse, act on, their various flights of utter stupidity. I am encouraged that - so far! - Boris has resisted the chance to go 'full-on Churchillian' in response to this viral epidemic.   We should be grateful for the lull!

'Down 'ere in zunny Zummerzet', where, natch!, it is raining, life goes on although the 'Memsahib' informs me that some shelves in the local supermarket had been cleared.  Still, it's nice to know that the stupidity of the plebs remains at zero - some things never change!  As does the malicious stupidity of the Labour party who have expelled the entirely honourable Trevor Phillips from their Party.  Himself a black man, he has been a leading campaigner against racial discrimination for decades but, alas for him, never a supporter of the vitriolic and stupid Marxism that has now captured his Party.  As The Mail summarises the story:

Labour has suspended the former head of Britain's equality watchdog, Trevor Phillips, over accusations of Islamophobia.  Yet Phillips has fought racism all his life, while the party under Jeremy Corbyn has been accused of anti-Semitism and is being investigated by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

File under: "You couldn't make it up!"

 

 

 

Zee view from Berlin: circa 1940

I have mentioned before that I am reading Volker Ullrich's biography of Adolph Hitler and it is fascinating, not least for the chance to view WWII from a totally opposite direction.  Through my increasingly long life I have read an enormous number of books on WWII but, in confirmation of the  truism that it is the victor who gets to write the history, they have all been from our side.  Of course, the best of them seek to explain what was going on 'over there' as 'we' fought our war but when the central character of the history is actually Adolph Hitler then the view changes.

It also makes me ponder on the choices Hitler and his Generals had before them at different times - not that the Generals had much say in the decisions!  Yes, Hitler was 'bonkers' but it is amazing how many of the German leadership, military as well as civilian, went along with his lunacy.  Needless to say, the more incredibly successful he was in the early stages, the more any criticism was silenced.  Also, it is fascinating to view Europe as seen from Berlin!  There was a sort of logic to Hitler's plans and the fact that he was just intelligent enough to take one bite at a time hid the fact that his over-all ambition to swallow the whole of Europe was quite mad.  That idea alone demonstrated his lunacy but as 'success' built on 'success', first with Czechoslovakia, then Poland, then France, then Scandinavia, virtually none of the so-called German 'intelligentsia, let alone the people, ever had the courage to shout "HALT!"

I will add one last thought which is the way this Germanic view of history emphasises how absolutely and totally critical it was to the entire continent, or even the world, for us Brits to stand firm and defiant.  Of course, all of us have long admired the courage of those Battle of Britain fighter pilots, and the numerous 'brainiacs' who invented and built the radar network but this book makes it startling clear how absolutely crucial they were.

 

 

 

My two desires of the day!

First, I want Priti Patel to have my babies!  Yes, yes, I know it may take some (considerable) time to supply the, er, 'ammo', so to speak, let alone 'straighten the barrel' but where there's a will(y) there's a way!  The re-action of sundry wet drips in the Civil Service to being issued with orders and then told in no uncertain terms to carry them out tells us all what a bunch of precious 'kiddie-winkies' there are in the higher reaches of our mostly useless bureaucracy.

 

My second desire of the day is to appoint a lawyer to sue my old Drill Sergeant!  Talk about bullying and insulting, you have never heard the like of what he said to me 'back in the day' on the parade square in Aldershot!  It was all very hurtful and demeaning and, honestly, I have never been the same since!

 

 

Something for you to read - God, I'm good to you!

I mentioned before that we have an exceedingly elderly - ie, older than me! - relative who lives in a Residential Home locally and today is her 90th Birthday.  Alas, she is also seriously unwell.  All of which means the the 'Memsahib' and I must go and visit her this morning.  However, to keep you all going, I herewith provide you with a link to my favourite commentator, Douglas Murray who, in this article, is in top form:

https://beta.spectator.co.uk/article/why-i-m-standing-by-my-old-enemy-selina-todd

Enjoy - back later.

There will be no deal with the EU

Why? Because of La France, of course!  As Matthew Lynn makes clear in the Telegraph today, there is absolutely no benefit for France if the EU signs a soft deal with the UK, indeed, such an outcome would be injurious to the French economy.

The conventional view will be that President Emmanuel Macron is fighting to protect the EU, preserve the single market and press forward with greater integration. The real answer is very different. It is France that has the most to lose from a more liberal, free-trading deregulated Britain.

Zut alors!  That cannot be permitted and, as seen from a French point of view, Macron's series of 'Non! Non! Non!' is understandable.

First, neither of us like to admit it but the UK and France have very similar economies. The populations are almost identical (66.9m France, 66.4m UK) and so is GDP per capita ($38,476 France, $39,720 Britain, says the World Bank), and with a similar balance between manufacturing and services (about 10pc for both countries, half the level of Germany).

They have higher unemployment and government spending than we do, and we have worse productivity. But there is not a lot to choose. The important point is this: aggressive deregulation, including lower taxes, and pro-business rule-making, will put our companies in a stronger position to compete with theirs – and they are already very close competitors.

Next, the battle for foreign investment has always been intense. Some investors will go to Eastern Europe for its lower costs or to Germany for its skills. But if you are looking for a mainstream, medium-cost European base then it is usually a choice between France and the UK. We get more than they do, but the gap isn’t huge.

All of that is self evident so I do hope that 'Boris & Co.' are not wasting too much time in trying to force a way past the French barricades and instead are concentrating on preparations for a 'No Deal!'  Also, I suspect but cannot yet put forward hard evidence that the EU is facing some extreme tensions which might end up as a car crash.  Quelle domage!

An additional 'MUST READ':

I have just read an excellent article by Douglass Carswell over at 'CAPX'.  It is essential reading if you want to understand the mass political suicide the EU 'apparat' is about to execute in negotiations with Britain.

 

 

No, I do not want to pay for Harry and Meghan's policemen

I have tried to avoid the Harry/Meghan nonsense because it concerns me neither a jot nor a tittle!  I fear Harry has made a 'yuuuuuuuge' blunder but - hey! - he is neither the first nor the last man to get it wrong in choosing a partner.  A pity because in many respects, including his military service in Afghanistan, he deserves better but, alas, in this decision he has displayed the sort of minimal intelligence that his late mother possessed when she married 'Charles the Chump'!  Mind you, she was exceedingly young when she made her mistake.

The only reason I raise the subject is that Harry's and Meghan's desire to be constantly protected by British policemen where-ever in the world they choose to visit will cost 'we the plebs' a small fortune and that is something up with which I will not put!  Sorry, Darlings, it was your choice to walk out so it is your purse that takes the strain - not mine!

 

 

The Civil Service looks and sounds both wet and dim

Sir Philip Rutman has resigned as chief pen-pusher at the Home Office and I say 'good riddance to bad rubbish'!  Of course, I say that with absolutely no knowledge whatsoever as to the sundry disputes between him and his minister, Priti Patel.  Even so, I do understand the basics which is that the minister rules and the civil servant obeys unless it is a matter of principle.  So far, there has been no indication of such a serious rift, merely an indication that the smug, useless servant has obstructed or even, possibly, disobeyed the instructions of his boss. 

The boss, of course, is under the instruction of us, 'the Peeps' because it was us that, in effect, voted for her based on what she and her Party had proffered at the election.  The opinions of her chief quill-pen sharpener is of some interest given his time and supposed expertise in the job but only up to a limit.  After that, the minister acts and the pen-pusher does what he is told.

I suspect, that the pompous and pathetically weak but weaselly Sir Phillip Rutnam has forgotten his place in the scheme of things.  He is the pen-pusher and Ms. Patel is the one who tells him what to write!  End of!  We, 'the Peeps' will, in due course, exact our judgment on her.

 

 

 

A mega-bonus with my books

You will have deduced already that I am an unashamed 'bookaholic' so you will be delighted to know that yesterday, whilst I suffered several disappointments, I also won the jackpot!  I had better explain.

I have always had a weakness for 'pulp fiction' but not, I hasten to make clear, without some discernment.  It is a weakness I share with an old friend from way back who shops regularly in some sort of cut-price supermarket that also sells books as 'cheap as chips'!  Every so often he boxes up the ones he has read and sends them to me - what a pal! Consequently, during the week an enormous box arrived stuffed full of books and at a glance I could see the names of several writers whose work I have enjoyed over the years decades!

So, with a sigh of pleasure I slumped into my armchair to read, for example, Jo Nesbo, Harlan Coben and some other 'Scandie' thriller writer I had never heard of before.  First the 'SCHLOK', then the HORROR - I couldn't get on with any of them!  In desperation I picked up the last one written by John le Carré.  It is superb and, best of all, it harks back to the story line that made his name "The Spy Who Came In From The Cold".  That book truly is the greatest spy yarn ever told!  I can still remember, vividly, the moment when, right towards the end of the book, the penny eventually dropped in what passes for my mind as I realised who was the real 'dirty rat' in the story.

Anyway, in "A Legacy of Spies", le Carré describes how the current, er, 'management' of MI6 has decided, for reasons I have not yet learned, to mount an enquiry into the operation from decades before described in "The Spy Who Came In From The Cold" which ended with the agent Alec Leamus and his unwitting girlfriend, Elizabeth Gold, shot dead on the Berlin wall.  Peter Guillam (remember him?), a young officer in the first book, now retired, has been brought back to the 'Circus' for questioning on the whole operation.  So, there they all are again, brought back from the dead, so to speak - 'C', Smiley, Oliver Lacon, Bill Hadyn, Estahase, Alleline et al!  And now, the ashes are being well raked over!

Dammit, that John le Carré is a genius story-teller so I may be missing for a while!

 

 

In the meantime, 'WWIII' is about to commence!

I refer, of course, to the altercation between Britain and Europe which will, probably, break out later this year.  I have mentioned before, many a time and oft', that Brussels has absolutely no intention of attempting to cut a trade deal with us.  It's over, it's finished, this, er, 'deal' is a dead deal!  Of course, there is a difference between what the 'Eurocrats' want in Brussels and what individual countries within the EU want as an outcome.  The latter recognise that Boris, with a recently acquired 80-seat majority, has no need nor desire to let Brussels strap us down to the whipping block.  Equally, many of the individual nation-states of the EU absolutely do not want trade links with Britain destroyed.  Such an outcome will hurt them more than us and, even worse, will only lend support to those nationalist forces already growing in strength with in their own nations.

The Brussels bureaucracy has grown and grown and then grown some more and the big losers have been European national interests.  What is the Polish/Swedish/Italian/Greek etc, etc, for give us back our independence?

 

 

War in Whitehall

Well, we can't say we weren't forewarned with the 'DomBo' duo in charge even if it did kick off rather sooner than expected.  Yesterday, following a major ruck between Ms. Priti Patel, the Home Secretary and her senior Civil Servants, two of whom have now departed.  Looks like another 'lady who is not for turning'!  I, of course, have no idea what the 'punch-up' was about but I am glad it has happened and I trust more of those haughty, little pen-pushers will feel the 'DomBo' pressure.  For too long, far too long, they have stymied the 'will of the people' as expressed by politicians whom we elected to act on our behalf. Of course, frequently they will be right (although there is precious little evidence of it!) and the politicians wrong but -hey! - that's life.  In the end the dreaded 'Peeps' will praise or dismiss the politicians, that is our duty.  In the meantime, let the politicians praise or dismiss the bureaucrats as they deem fit.  'Sir Humphrey' needs to know his place!

 

 

 

The Sunday Rumble: 23.2.20

Crikey! Tyson must have been in a fury!   (Yes, yes, I know, NOT 'very witty, Wilde', but I haven't been up long!)  Anyway, I was stunned to hear the result of last night's fight.  Whilst I am not a keen boxing fan I do admire the men (but NOT the women!) who take up the sport.  In Mr. Tyson's case, I also admire his eccentricity.  I gather that at the end of last night's fight he regaled the audience with a solo song performance.  Time for a sword tap on the shoulders, Ma'am!

 

Harry vs. Her Maj!   Well, there was only ever going to be one winner in that fight!  Now Harry and Meghan will have to remain swimming, increasingly desperately, I fear, in the shark-pool that is 'Celeb-Central'.  Good luck with that one!

 

Not much love for the BBC these days:   I have been slightly surprised at the lack of support for the BBC as it faces a hatchet-job from the 'DomBo' duo.  Personally, I went off the BBC years ago as it gradually dumped its hitherto very neutral stance on current affairs.  The only programme worth listening to these days is the World Service, particularly its excellent "From Our Own Correspondent".  The sight and sound of David Dimbleby squeaking in outrage as 'DomBo' approach with the financial scissors in hand is music to my ears!

 

The Dems are truly and monumentally dumb!   Faced with a weirdly eccentric Republican President whose oddities should have been easy target, the Dems have succeeded in shooting themselves in the foot!  In one caucus they managed to propel the American equivalent of Jeremy Corbyn into top place!

 

Gregory Doran shouldn't be allowed to run a Punch and Judy Show!   However, as it is, he runs the Royal Shakespeare Company which is sufficient reason for me never to set foot in the place again - I doubt he will miss me!  He is one of those silly, 'woke' people who likes to cast women in major masculine roles and black men as historical Kings of England.  Need I say more?  Well, yes, actually because I would like to tell him that when I go to see a Shakespeare play I want to see Shakespeare's play, not Mr. Doran's!

 

Daniel Hannan eviscerates the Brussels 'cherry-pickers'.   And no-one does it better:

Now who is cherry picking? For three years, EU negotiators refused to countenance British proposals for a bespoke deal, however much such a deal was in their own interest. Their rules were paramount (yes, they kept saying that with straight faces) and Britain must choose an off-the-peg model. Michel Barnier was forever brandishing a chart with a staircase on it to show that, if Britain didn’t want to keep free movement or stay in the customs union, its only option was a free-trade agreement like that signed with Canada.

“Fine then,” said Boris Johnson when he took over from Theresa May. “Canada it is.” At which point, suddenly and shamelessly, Eurocrats began to backtrack. Actually, no, not Canada. When they said “Canada”, what they meant was: “Canada plus an obligation to let Brussels set some of your rules in perpetuity.”

As I have said, many a time and oft', the Brussels apparatchiks will never, ever cut a trade deal with us Brits until we have been punished!  So let us not bother, 'DomBo', just pull out and go on WTO terms.  'See how they like them apples'!

 

 

No more Rumbles

 

 

 

The 'frugal four' or something beginning with 'f''!

No wonder they were all so desperate to keep us in their EU racket!  Today we learn that lacking the 'yuuuuuuuuuge' British 'bung' off which they lived for decades, the EU 'remainers' are squabbling over their budget.  The 'poorer' countries are demanding that the richer countries, 'Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and Austria (a.k.a. 'the frugal four') should dig deep and up their contributions.  The response is, I gather, untranslatable!  Germany, arguably the wealthiest of them all remains silent and the golden rule is no longer 'Don't mention the war' but 'don't mention the hole in the budget'! 

Thank God we're out!

Right, you oiks and oikettes in the Lower 4th, this is 'Econ. for Beginners'!

On one side we have Ambrose-Evans Pritchard and on the other we have Jeremy Warner.  They will explain, with perfect clarity - although I, as a fully qualified 'thickoe', had problems following it - the proper approach to Britain's financial and economic position and prospects.  Were they agreed?  Er, well, not too sure about that but I'm sure all you swots out there will have no problem understanding every nuance.  Er, when you do, perhaps you could pop back in the 'Comments' and explain it to me!  I have a headache so I'm off for a nap!

Come on, Boris, get your 'wellies' on!

I don't expect an 'Old Etonian' toff like Boris to know this but as his country sinks slowly into flood water it is the duty of the Prime Minister to pull his 'wellies' on, shrug into his water-proof jacket and plonk a particularly silly hat on his head - even if it hides his, er, golden locks! - and get out and paddle amongst suffering 'peeps'!  Lurking in the warm, dry, waterproof luxury of Downing Street is just not Prime Ministerial!  Even Winston set aside his tumbler of Scotch in order to visit the bombed out victims in the East End. Yes, yes, I know such 'flim-flammery' produces no practical results but it does improve morale. Failure to do so will be remarked upon and, more important, will produce a result at the next election.

 

 

The Sunday Rumble: 16.02.20

Normal service is restored, well, what passes for normal service! And NO, I did not enjoy a long lay in this morning!  It was all the fault of that Bill Gates because Microsoft decided they wanted to, er, up-date my computer.  Fair enough - but it took all bloody morning!  Do get a grip, Gates!  

 

Dammit! Hitchens keeps telling uncomfortable truths:   Today he shines a light on the, er, 'lady', Mary Lou McDonald, who (allegedly) leads the Sinn Fein party which to most people's horror and disgust did exceptionally well in the recent Irish elections.  Lest we be fooled - again! - he reminds of some of her history:

In August 2003, Ms McDonald stood willingly beside the grisly apostle of violence and convicted IRA bomber Brian Keenan. But that wasn't all. Both were there to 'pay respect' at the statue of one of the nastiest people who ever lived.

The memorial to Sean Russell in Dublin's Fairview Park is, as far as I know, the only monument to a Nazi collaborator still standing in democratic Europe.
Russell, the IRA's Chief of Staff in 1939, travelled on the eve of the Second World War to Nazi Germany to offer his services to Hitler. They gave him the use of a villa in Berlin, and provided him with a car and chauffeur.

What can one say except 'pass the sick-bag'!  In the meantime, of course, there is a good chance that Sinn Fein, a 'party' run by and for murderous gangsters will form part of the government of an EU country.

 

It's decision time, 'DomBo':  That's the big difference between 'wannabe' political leaders and those actually up to their elbows (if not higher!) in political leadership.  The ever-stern Jeremy Warner in The Telegraph puts the difficulty this way:

Is this a tax-cutting or big-spending administration? Is it economic competitiveness that most exercises the prime minister as we head towards the challenges of Brexit – in which case he would slash taxes to attract investment and talent – or is it “levelling up” the regions, which requires big spending on education, training, the underprivileged and the agglomeration of uneconomic towns and cities into more viable wholes.

Gotta choose, 'DomBo', but please don't choose both!

 

The death of the BBC is about to be announced - drinks on me!   Not that part of me is not sad.  Since wartime childhood, the BBC has been part of my life.  It is only in recent years that gradually I have noticed the changes.  It is no longer fair and balanced, or even truthful but has gradually morphed into a 'woke', Leftist, Greenie broadcaster for the purposes of pumping out it's own 'agitprop'.  The fact that I am forced by law to pay for this garbage plus the 'yuuuuuuuge' salaries of the smug, 'Leftie' broadcasters is making me feel ill, so the quicker 'DomBo' pull the trigger, the better!

 

Oh my 'Gaard', not George Washington!    Is no-one safe from those prying historians?  Let me begin by confessing my almost total ignorance of George Washington.  As far as I am concerned he was a damned traitor who took arms against His Majesty and, compounding his treachery, he won, dammit!  Anyway, according to The Mail, he really was a bit of a rotter who ill-treated his slaves, stole their teeth for his own use and used every dodge in the book to avoid setting them free!  Finally:

Perhaps the most hard-hitting revelation in the disproved myths about Washington is that his famous 'I cannot tell a lie' line to his father when felling the family's cherry tree is completely fictitious.
The tale was made up by Mason Locke Weems, a broke itinerant parson and bookseller, for the 19th century for the book 'The Life of Washington'. 

Shockin', shockin'!  I'm sure today's American politicians would not stoop to such falsehood!

 

And talking of America:   Can anyone tell me who Michael Bloomberg is?  I gather that he is eye-wateringly wealthy and is intent on buying the Democrat party!  Is this "A Good Thing" or "A Bad Thing"?

 

Keep your eyes on Germany!   I keep reading bits and pieces about the state of the State of Germany.  Matters are in a state of flux as 'Mutti' Merkel prepares to hang up her handbag and not all of them sound too good!

 

 

No more Rumbles 

 

 

Size matters!

No, no, I'm not talking about 'that', I am referring to politics.  Further to the engrossing article by Ms. Claire Fox to which I referred in the previous post, it seems to me that one of the main problems with the EU is that it is simply 'too damn big'!  There is, it seems to me, a 'natural' size that fits to a successful political construct.  Part of America's problems arise from its sheer size but at least (for now!) it is unified by a common language and a foundation laid mostly by men of Anglo-Saxon heritage.  This is now strained by an enormous influx of peoples with a very different heritage.  The enormity of America's geography will not make it easy to control these centrifugal forces in the future but I wish them well.

The European Union, of course, is equally divided into separate communities with totally differing languages and history, indeed, some of the histories are bloody and not easily forgotten, let alone forgiven!  In such a diverse and divided mixture it seems madness to me for Brussels to attempt to enforce ever closer union.  I stress the word 'enforce' for obvious reasons.  it seems to me that the EU hierarchy should bear in mind the wise advice, in a different context, of the words of the late Lord Baden-Powell, "Softly, softly, catchee monkey"!  Too fast and too strict enforcement might provoke the 'monkey' to jump out and bite you in the bum!  The Brits have already done it!

 

 

The view from inside the belly of the beast

An exceedingly excellent report from the bowels of the EU behemoth. I will provide you with some excerpts but would urge you all to read it in its entirety. My Brit readers who voted for Brexit may pat themselves on the back and my 'Remainer' readers, well, one of them at least, can say, "Sorry, Dad, you were right, I was wrong!"

The writer is Ms. Claire Fox, formerly an MEP for the Brexit Party.  Obviously, therefor, she has a point of view but her descriptions of the, er, actualité of the way in which the system works are simply factual - and ghastly!

Looking back at my experience as an MEP, there are lessons worth noting. I had assumed that a gathering of 700 or so MEPs from all around Europe, would, at the very least, provide a fascinating exchange of views from an international perspective. But the parliament operates through artificially federalised political groupings; behind closed doors the leaders of each grouping carve up who gets to speak, for how long (typically 60 seconds), and in stage-managed terms.

Why am I not surprised?

Topics for discussion are similarly preordained, prescribed by legislation initiated elsewhere. There are few opportunities for actual free discussion, so very few listen to each others’ speeches. The chamber is regularly empty save for a lone voice and the chairpersons. Interaction is reduced to a formulaic blue card system for asking questions, which in too many debates are ruled inadmissible due to time restraints and fiat. No wonder the parliamentary chamber is only full when voting takes place; because financial penalties operate if you don’t turn up for a minimum number of votes per year.

As I suspected, the whole damned thing is a charade! 

But it’s not just the technical process that so deadens debate. Without accountability to voters back home, the atmosphere is one of a feudal court with MEPs forced to vie for favours. Interactions with other organisations are often confined to professional lobbyists. European civil society and NGOs that petition for favours and influence for their special interests are often themselves funded from EU coffers. This creates a system of patronage that encourages self-reinforcing group-think and a cloying sycophancy.

What can one say except, possibly, "Passez le sac de maladie!" - er, that's 'Pass the sickbag!'  Please read the whole thing and then, at dinner tonight, raise a glass to the British 'peeps' who, for once, took the right decision.

 

 

The 'Remainers' begin to change their colours!

Starting with that 'moaning Minnie' who, God helps us, once ran the bank of England.  Yes, indeed, according to Mr. Ross Clark at The Coffee House, Mark Carney has described Brexit as "a conceptual positive" for the UK economy. In somewhat clearer language he said this:

"It is a major reordering of our relationship not just with the European Union but our trading relationships with the rest of the world and it is prompting a reassessment of economic policy, structural economic policy in the country… We are already seeing a rebound in confidence, business confidence and to some extent a firming of consumer confidence. [My emphasis]

Well, well, 'hoodathunkit'?!  And why am I not surprised?  Also, even the Financial Times has begun to walk back from its previous anti-Brexit stance.  If we all wait long enough perhaps even 'SoD' will admit to the error of his ways - but don't hold your breath!

 

 

It is usually a curse to live in 'interesting times'!

So now, all we Brits live in a 'Presidency'!  Why am I uneasy?  By and large, all things considered and taken in the round (Oh, get on with it - Ed!) I suspect that a government consisting of sundry warring groups is "A Good Thing".  Yes, it can become somewhat schlerotic as differing factions dig in for some trench warfare but, on the other hand, it does put a brake on the swivel-eyed fanatics who lurk on the fringes of all governments.

Cartoon courtesy of The Telegraph

It must be said, however, that some 'swivel-eyed fanatics' are capable of brilliant and original thinking, just as sensible, plodding thinkers (er, like me!) are not!  Even so, I view 'President' Johnson's seizure of absolute power with considerable suspicion, dammit, it's so un-British!  The activities of his capering, pet monkey, Cummings, will need to be watched closely.  Cummings' dislike of the schlerotic bureaucracy that squats over Whitehall is entirely justified but it is crucial that efforts to 'drain the swamp' do not leave us dwelling in a desert!

Interesting times - dammit!

 

 

 

'Hey, Saj baby, don't mess with 'DomBo'!

Well, that cabinet massacre will concentrate minds wonderfully!  Right or wrong, it's the 'DomBo' duo who are very much in command and control.  The 'execution' of the Chancellor of the Exchequer will be imprinted on the consciousness of every cabinet minister - and their underlings. So, for good or ill, we now know that it is 'DomBo' who are running the show.  It will be fascinating to see this duopoly at work.  They may be right, they may be wrong, or more likely they will be a mix of the two.  Certainly they will not be able to blame any errors on the 'underlings' who from now on will be utterly quiescent.  We haven't seen a proper Prime Ministerial dictatorship since the days of 'that woman'!  On the whole it worked splendidly for her so let us hope 'DomBo' do as well.  And if the EU apparatchiks think they will have Britain over a barrel, they could be in for some shocking surprises!

 

 

 

What's the Gaelic for "Ouch, that Brexit just bit me in the arse!"

A fascinating, and amusing, article at The Coffee House by Brendan O'Neil on the folly of the EU-besotted, ex-Prime Minister of Ireland, Leo Varadka, who has just had his silly arse handed to him by the 'Paddies'.  According to Mr. O'Neil:

Over the past couple of years, Varadkar allowed himself to become a patsy of the EU. He turned Ireland into little more than a battering ram against Brexit. With no sense of shame, he reduced himself to a pliant tool of the EU establishment, continually doing its bidding against Brexit by obsessing over (and exaggerating) the impact Brexit would have on the border in Ireland and on economic life in Ireland.

For this, he was celebrated in Brussels and Paris. He was cheered by European technocrats. He became a hero of Remainers in the UK. He was applauded by establishment lackeys at the Irish Times. And he got so carried away with being fawned over by foreign bureaucrats and pro-EU luvvies that he forgot about, or simply ignored, his own people and the issues they consider to be important.

The problem for Varadka was that the Irish 'peeps', you know, those irritating voters who needs must have their say every so often, did not give a flying fig about Brexit.  In their usual, self-centred way, they were much more concerned with housing shortages, hospital and medical services and pensions.

Here is the most staggering statistic from the Irish election: just one per cent of voters said Brexit was a deciding factor in how they voted.

Mini-Macron 'et al' should take note!

 

 

In which I begin to fret about Boris

Dammit!  Doesn't he realise that conservatives, either small 'c' or large 'C', are never keen on 'yuuuuuuuuge' government spending sprees.  If we had wanted that sort of thing we would have voted for 'Jezza'!  Even less do we want tax increases to pay for all these 'Boris Bonanzas'.  He's only been PM for a couple of months and already he's planning his 'monuments'!  And already I am wondering who I am going to vote for at the next election!  And what the hell is Rees-Mogg doing there sitting on the front bench?

Someone pass the sick-bag!

The 'Paddies' have been on the Guiness again!

Well, they must have been on something for so many of them to vote for that murderous bunch of killers who lurk under the label of Sinn Fein.  Still, I suppose they can while away the time in what passes for their parliament by sharing their old photographs of murdered men, women and children who were slaughtered under their 'proud' name.  And now Boris lets it be known that he is thinking of building a multi-zillion pound bridge from Scotland to Ulster.  What's he on?

The Sunday Rumble: 09.02.20

'SoD' descended':  And that was why I went 'off air' yesterday - sorry, sorry - waddya mean ya never noticed?  Anyway, Europe and politics were never mentioned so it was a pleasant visit and as a bonus there was beautiful Spring weather - unlike today where a raging storm is hurling wind and rain in all directions.  Time, methinks, to go out on the lawn and do my Lear 'schtick',  "Blow wind and crack your cheeks".  I know the neighbours just love it!

 

Dan 'disses' Dom:   "Ho, ho, very witty, Wilde" but what are you on about?  Sorry, sorry, I am even more obscure than normal!  I am referring to an 'axe attack' by Dan Hodges in The Mail against Dominic Cummings.

Of course, 'axe attacks' are exactly what iconoclasts like Cummings relish.  Nobody inside, let alone outside, can know for sure whether Cummings qualifies as "A Good Thing" or "A Bad Thing", nor, whether or not he is achieving any of his goals!  We shall have to wait for history to tell us - 'I should live so long my life already!'

 

Sometimes secrets are best kept secret.   Today, Phillip Schofield, about whom I know next to nothing, outs himself, after 28 years of marriage, as a homosexual.  No doubt there will be a chorus of "Oooo, aren't you brave, 'Philli' darling?" from his many admirers!  Nothing brave about it.  It was a cruel, needless assault on his wife and family.  What an A1 shit!

 

Now I know Boris has lost his marbles:   According to The Mail, Boris, not content to build a zillion-pound railway to get us to Manchester 8 minutes quicker, is now minded to build a bridge from Scotland to Northern Ireland!  I give up . . .

 

Bercow gets his just deserts:   That is, so to speak, 'bugger all', 'nada', 'zero', which, of course, he entirely deserves given that he is a bumptious, little pratt whose only claim to fame is that he is probably the most disliked ex-MP in decades.  Just clear off to obscurity, Bercow, and take that ghastly wife of yours with you!

 

Like son, like father:   It is a very reasonable assumption that Jeremy Corbyn couldn't organise a 'piss up in a brewery', let alone run a business.  Strong confirmatory evidence is available now that his son's first effort to try his hand at, er, 'capitalism' has closed down even before his shop premises opened!  Of course, it was all dear, old Dad's fault because if he had won the election his son might have expected a bit of government 'dosh' (or my 'dosh', as I fondly think of it!) to help things along.

 

 

No more rumbles

 

 

 

Mini-Macron lives on Mars

Perhaps his mother - ooops, sorry - wife has told him to 'man-up' and tell those damned Brits where to get off!  Anyway, today 'mini-Macron' has told Britain that it must, it will comply with all EU regulations pertaining to tax, state aid, the environment and social standards before any trade deal can be negotiated!  What can one say except, "Bonne chance avec celui-là, Monsieur le President!"

I am not sure exactly how much clout 'mini-Macron' wields inside the holy vestibules of Brussels.  Perhaps slightly more than usual given the decline, if not yet quite the fall, of 'Mutti' Merkel's Germany.  However, there are a multitude of nations inside the EU who will be eager to continue trade relations with Britain in one way or another.  Indeed, inside mini-Macron's own, strike-bound, riot-filled country there are considerable sectors of commerce who remain eager to keep trade links going with Britain.

So, what is the French for 'Now we shall see what we shall see'?

 

 

 

We can only hope that the reshuffle delivers a strong hand!

The cabinet reshuffle due in the next few days will be rather more important than usual.  For a start, it will clarify 'DomBo's general direction.  By the way, I continue to use the expression "DomBo" in order to indicate the duality of today's government.  Only time will tell whether 'Dominic' or 'Boris' are actually sharing the controls or fighting over them!  In the meantime we must simply fasten our seatbelts and hope for the best. 

On the whole, the outlook seems to be set fair.  'The Donald' has utterly squidged the Democrat party who have been reduced to looking like those old circus clowns who ran around pouring buckets of water over each other.  So  matters 'over there' should remain fairly quiet and with a bit of luck and a fair wind we should be able to strike a mutually advantageous trade deal with 'Uncle Sam', ooops, I meant 'Uncle Don'!

Meanwhile, 'just over there' the European Union - who sniggered? - might huff 'n' puff but with Germany sailing into stormy economic times and the East Europeans  using their elbows to make room for themselves, it may be gradually dawning in what passes for the collective mind of the EU that they may need us as a trading partner rather more than we need them!  Cold shower time, mes amis!

So, cautious optimism is permitted but keep your provisions safe and your ammo dry!

 

 

 

Time to give Dom a slap, Boris!

That's the problem with fanatics, they never know when to stop!  By and large, taken the round and all that sort of thing, Dominic Cummings is probably "A Good Thing".  The sclerotic swamp that is our government needs a good stir from time to time but it needs to be conducted with some finesse, or dare I say, intelligence.

Take for example that gang of scrofulous, down-at-heel, dandruff-ridden rat-bags who form our press corps.  Not exactly, or even nearly, a disciplined body of clear, intellectual thinkers because, alas and alack, they in their way represent us, 'The Peeps', in all our multi-faceted divisions!  However, they remain our one and only source of information as to what our government is up to.

I remember in my days as a member of the Intelligence Corps (a misnomer if ever there was one!) that we had to grade any intelligence we received in two ways.  First the source, then the information: thus 'A1' meant an impeccable source and totally reliable information.  At the other end, F6 meant, in effect, that the source was a lying liar and the information was crap!  Thus it is with our news reporters!  However, and this is critical, it is, to misquote a famous American phrase, 'We the Peeps' who decide on the quality or otherwise of what we receive via the 'meeja', not a swivel-eyed loon like Dominic Cummings for whom not a single subject of 'Her Maj' voted in the last election!

So get a grip, Boris, and don't let Cummings pick and choose which members of the 'rat-pack' are to be invited to government briefings.  Dammit, Sir, you are the Prime Minister, not him!

 

 

The Sunday Rumble: 02.02.20

Peter Hitchens is spot on:   Because Hitchens writes a column for the Mail on Sunday, his opinions are frequently repeated here - well, waddya expect from me - originality? - so today I have decided to quote one of his comments in full:

When a man tried to steal one of the few copies of Magna Carta from Salisbury Cathedral, it was lucky that American tourists were on hand to help catch him.

Americans still revere our great charter. Most British people these days have never even heard of it, and would respond to cries of ‘He’s trying to steal Magna Carta!’ by asking: ‘Trying to steal what?’ 

Once again, I am happy to say, 'God bless America'!

 

There will be no change to EU hostility:   I don't altogether blame them, after all, we did walk out of their, er, 'exclusive' club!  However, if you think, or hope, that now we are gone, relations will improve - 'faggetaboutit'!  If anything, their venom will increase and the chances of a trade deal are minimal and shrinking.  In fact, they will take every opportunity to inflict damage upon us and I trust that 'DomBo' are busy preparing for WTO trading arrangements.  Mind you, I suspect that 'les euros' do not quite understand the damage we could return on them, were we so minded!

 

Bercow keeps on digging:   According to The Mail, Bercow has claimed that he was the target of anti-Semitism by Tory MPs but never by the Labour party whose anti-Semitism is public knowledge.  Also, he claims Boris cheated at a tennis match between them although, given that Bercow won 6-0, 6-0, 6-0, it doesn't look as though Boris was very good at it! 

 

Jeremy Clarke moans about Heathrow:  In this week's 'Speccie' he re-iterates its many faults, most of which I recognised decades ago when I lived near the dump!  When, eventually, I moved 'down 'ere to zunny Zummerzet', I made use of Bristol Airport which, by comparison, was delightful.  But bloody-bloody time moved on and a few years ago I realised that it had become a mini-Heathrow.  It was about then that I decided never to fly abroad again - EVER!

 

So-called "Smart Motorways":   For the benefit of my foreign visitors, on British motorways always - but ALWAYS - the inner lane is reserved for broken down cars and their unfortunate passengers thus allowing other cars to whizz by at speed.  Then some mentally retarded 'pen-pusher' decided that because the motorways were becoming so crowded, the inside 'safety lane' should be opened for normal traffic.  I'm not sure what the death toll is so far but it is mounting.  Perhaps we could tie that retard to a rubber post in the 'new' lane and see how long he lasts!

 

'Kindle':   The greatest invention ever - until the "Beam me up, Scotty" device is perfected!  As an almost non-stop reader, I still cannot quite believe that I can carry around with me 50+ books in a tiny plastic case which fits into my pocket.  Hoorah for the 21st century and all those four-eyed 'wierdoes' who put it together.

 

Islamist nutters:   They really are as 'thick as planks'!  I mean, time after time they choose the dimmest, most useless ways to slaughter us non-Muslims and end up dead themselves.  Is Mohammed impressed?  I doubt it!

 

No more rumbles 

 

 

 

This is one book I haven't the courage to read

I'm not talking about physical courage but moral courage!  One word is enough to disclose the cause of my unease - Dresden!  I have just read a review of the book "Dresden: The Fire and the Darkness" by Sinclair MacKay.  It is reviewed, carefully, by Christopher Priest in this week's Spectator.  It is, I suppose, 'the bombing raid that dare not speak its name'!  I have known about it for around 60-odd years but steered clear of digging into it too deeply.  I understand, and to a certain extent I sympathise with the perpetrators, even the ghastly Air Marshall 'Bomber' Harris, but it should not have happened.

 

Dresden after the Allied bombing raids of 13 to 15 February 1945: an estimated 25,000 civilians were killed

 

It was, in effect, a war crime.  There was nothing of military or strategic value in the city which was, in fact, crammed with refugees from the many other bombed cities of Germany plus countless others fleeing from the Russian advance from the East.  It was a war crime executed with military precision in that low-flying Mosquitoes were used to plant flares to mark out the City centre for the fleets of heavy bombers which followed.  The next day, the American Air Force took over and completed the utter destruction of the ancient city and of several more thousands of civilians and refugees.

 

Nothing I have written is intended to blight the reputations of the unbelievably courageous air crews involved who were, to quote a phrase, simply obeying orders.  And, as anyone with a modicum of common-sense will know, "war is hell!" and should be avoided as much as is possible.  There is no way that WWII could be avoided but I do believe that the raid on Dresden should have been.

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes my ignorance is excruciatingly embarrassing

I really must stop reading those 'bloody-bloody' history books which embarrass me so often.  At the moment I am reading an excellent history entitled "Providence Lost: The Rise and Fall of Oliver Cromwell's Protectorate" by Paul Wray.  An excellent book helped along by the occasional dry wit of the author.  Oliver Cromwell is not a man I have ever studied before and as this history received some excellent reviews I thought it was time to get down to it! 

I was expecting yet another chapter of head-chopping which seemed to be the sport of the day in 17th century Britain!  Indeed, there is plenty of that but what made me sit back in astonishment was information about the Jews!  I had not realised that the Jews had been totally expelled from Britain in 1290 by Edward I.  In the 1650s, Cromwell had two imperatives.  First he needed, so to speak, to 'spread the word of the Lord' and thereby convert those 'sinners' who failed to accept it.  The other imperative was, like British governments throughout the ages, the need for money, in this case, to help pay for his intended war against those Spanish Catholic heretics who owned all those gold and silver mines in South America.  An influx of wealth-creating Jews would be invaluable to pay for more ships and soldiers - and also provide a target for, er, 're-educating' them in the words of the Lord!

So far, I am not too impressed with Oliver Cromwell's government but if he was responsible for enriching - in all senses of that word - the fabric of British society then let us immediately erect a statue of him in Trafalgar Square!

 

 

'A E-P' sums it up - precisely!

Yes, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in The Telegraph takes a long, hard, economic look at the state of play between Britain and Europe.  As regular readers do know, I am a practiced thief of other, more intelligent and educated writers's works, and not being an original thinker myself, I can usually be relied upon to steal their thoughts and observations.  However, in this case I was so impressed with A E-P's summary that I can only urge you all to read it:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2020/01/31/brexit-destiny-21st-century-watershed-philosophical-choice-far/

 

 

"Free again, happy, happy me, free again"!

What an extra-ordinary country I was lucky enough to be born in!  Nearly 50 years ago we made the colossal error of voting to join the EU - despite my advice to the contrary!  But gradually, bit by bit, ordinance by ordinance, enough of my fellow subjects woke up to the reality of rule by autocratic bureaucrats appointed not by "We the People" in a free vote but by backroom conclaves embedded in Brussels with their strings being pulled from Berlin and Paris.  In the end, "truth will out" such that even the previously purblind begin to see the glimmer of reality.

Sundry other countries have made half-hearted attempts to leave but have been forced to backtrack - but not us stubborn Brits!  Yes, of course, there will be mishaps and difficulties and mistakes will be made but, and this is the crucial and over-riding factor, we will now live by British law enforced by British courts.  An outcome much to be desired!

By the way, don't worry about that high-pitched noise you can hear in the background, it's only 'SoD' wailing and keening and gnashing his teeth - he'll get over it!

 

 

 

Crunch or cruise week for 'DomBo?

According to various commentators this week will set the course for the good ship "HMS DomBo" over the next five years.  Two massive decisions must be made and the ramifications are 'yuuuuuuuuuuge'!  First, what to do about that colossal waste of time and money known as HS2?  As in so many other examples of government indecision, the answer is, to quote the old London expression, "bleedin' obvious" to me - get rid!  

The other is whether or not to invite a hostile country to design and build the controlling software to our new national network?  Frankly, I would rather go without than allow the Commissars of Communist China to stick their malevolent fingers into our most sensitive spots.

As far as 'DomBo' goes, this is the acid test which will tell us all what sort of an administration they are going to inflict on us.  I hope but fear the worst!

 

 

The Sunday Rumble: 26.01.20

A cheerful start - for a change!   Until this morning I had never heard of 'The Windermere Children' but apparently it is the subject of a programme on BBC2 tomorrow night.  It tells the story of 300 or so Jewish children rescued from German concentration camps at the end of the war and relocated to a new camp near Windermere in the Lake District.  Gradually they were rehabilitated mentally and physically following the unspeakable horrors through which they had - just! - managed to survive.  You can read about it here:

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/the-true-story-of-the-ww2-holocaust-survivors-who-became-the-windermere-children/ar-BBZkPGS?ocid=spartanntp

 

Go, Rupe, baby, go!   Excellent news this morning  to the effect that my 'ex-Best Friend Rupe' Murdoch is planning to open a new radio station to compete with the BBC's Radio4.  Yes, I know the ads will be irritating but I would rather put up with them than listen to the tendentious, 'woke' crap that emanates from Radio4.  Incidentally, 'Rupe' is my best ex-best friend because years ago he ramped up the price of his TV news channel forcing me to leave.

 

The 'Heffalump' in praise of John Profumo:   He, of course, was the naughty boy caught out in the early '60s for his dalliance with the equally naughty Christine Keeler.  I always remember him because, before his fall from grace, I actually met him - for about 3.5 seconds!  I was in a bed in the RAF hospital in Bahrein - no, no, not sick, just skiving and making the most of the most minor of injuries - and as Minister for War he was inspecting the base.  Anyway, he shook hands and wished me well.  I mention all this because the 'Heffalump' has a kindly and forgiving article about the man in The Telegraph today.  Profumo,  was blessed with a superb and wise wife in the form of the film actress Valerie Hobson.  Whatever else, you have to say that he had good taste in women!

 

Oh dear, when 'allies' fall out!   I am a regular follower of both The American Thinker site and The National Revue site.  Between them they give me a Conservative overview of the American political scene.  The Thinker from a very pro-Trump point of view and the NR from a much more doubting and critical standpoint.  Today, The Thinker takes a swipe at The Revue and thus neatly summarises the divide in the conservative view of President Trump.

 

I told you they were 'psycho-babblers'!    For years now I have sneered at what I always refer to as "psycho-babblers".  I am not suggesting that everything they say is tripe, for example, there are, I believe, broad categories of mental states that can - with care! -  be grouped together to aid recognition and to allow some serious scientific enquiry and even treatment.  However, much of what is spouted on the subject is self-serving crap!  Take for example the late David Rosenhan, a 'psycho-babbler' of the first order, as detailed in a book review in this week's Spectator.  Read it and weep!  That phoney Freud has much to answer for.

 

'Theodore Dalrymple' gives Prince Harry a slap:   The volume of words spewed forth in recent weeks since the birth of Harry's and Meghan's son is monumental.  As you would expect, most of it was piffle but thanks to 'TakiMag' the shrewd and highly intelligent 'Dr. Dalrymple' has published his take, not on the birth itself but on the name chosen by his parents for the new 'nipper' - Archie.  Even I, resolutely uninterested as I am in the doings of this, er, particular family, raised an eyebrow when it was announced.  As per usual, Dr. Dalrymple puts what pass for my thoughts into clear, straightforward words.  Give it a read!

 

No more rumbles today

 

 

 

 

 

The omens are not good for the Boris 'n' Dom Show!

You may remember that I expressed some slight nervousness, following their 'yuuuuuuuuuge' victory, that the 'Boris 'n' Dom Show' might provide such an exciting 'opening night' that the show might crash and burn!  Actually, not much has happened.  In fact, I am beginning to sense a certain amount of lethargy!  Nothing much is happening.  I mean, how long does it take to decide that inviting Chinese technology into your national computer network is not so much an example of shooting yourself in the foot as amputating your legs and handing them over to 'Emperor Xi-ping-a-ling'.

Equally, it has been obvious ever since the daft idea first emerged that a high-speed rail-line from London to 'oop north' was always going to be so blindingly expensive and with such meagre returns that it was never worthwhile.  Surely, those bold men of action, Boris 'n' Dom, could have squidged that nonsense in their first week.  So why the delay and revarication?

'MDS' has the answer. She is, of course, 'My Darling Sherelle' [Jacobs] and she points an accusing finger at the glutinous, sticky blob otherwise known as the Civil (non)Service.

Mr Cummings has no choice. He and his small team of insurgents are grossly outnumbered. The old cliche is that the British government is creakingly unproductive. In reality, it is a bilgeing slime of over-professionalised bureaucracy. Whitehall systemically favours oleaginous mediocrities who can slick to the top, by honouring an administrative code of stagnant protocol.

The PPE-nurtured generalists who sit atop will do everything in their power to preserve their meticulously corrupt system. And, struck down with impotent official syndrome and snot-nosed with London anti-populism, their rank-and-file pen pushers are only too happy to help their masters jam the levers of Brexit.

So, come on, Boris 'n' Dom, I don't mind if you drop a few clangers, right or wrong, just get on with it!

 

 

Am I alone in sniggering in delight at the demise of the BBC?

No, I thought not!  In this day and age it is a ludicrous - and dangerous - idea that one particular broadcaster should be supported by legally-enforced taxation on the population as a whole.  Or, to put it another way, I absolutely and definitely do NOT wish to pay the salary of that egregious, 'Greenie' propogandist, Roger Harrabin, let alone all his fellow 'woke', Leftie 'comrades' who never cease preaching and prating their nonsense and who make every effort to stop access to the airwaves for anyone who is likely to be 'off message'.  By all means, let them start their own "Broadcasting Company" - but let them pay for it!

The print media is an excellent example.  If you want 'Leftie' twaddle then you can buy The New Statesman - er, good luck with that one!  If, on the other hand, you want a truly (small 'l') liberal magazine then The Spectator is available.  Both organs, of course, needs must support themselves, not rely on enforced taxation.  Why should the BBC be any different?

 

 

 

So farewell then, Terry Jones, you were a very silly boy!

The death of a 'clown' is always extra melancholy but that of Terry Jones is especially so.  He was the epitome of English silliness!  And, of course, 'silliness' is a vein of humour that runs through English humour for over a century.  Nothing could have been 'sillier' than the Monty Python crew led by Terry Jones which was summed up in the silliest - and one of the funniest - films ever made - "The Life of Brian".

Thank you, Terry Jones, you made me giggle and laugh - a priceless gift!

The stagnant malaise that rots Russia

Only the other day I groaned at the fate of Russia under their current gangster-in-chief, Putin.  In essence, I blamed the Russian people for their quiescent, hopeless apathy.  In a review of a book in The Times last Saturday, I gather that the author, Joshua Yaffa, says much the same thing.  The review is by Roger Boyes and the book is "Between Two Fires: Truth, Ambition and Compromise in Putin's Russia" and is worth a read - if, unlike me, you are prepared to pay the price.  Here is a quote:

"[T]he 40 million who were born or educated during Putin's reign appear to be largely apathetic. He is in their eyes a benign tsar and few question his right to reward favourites or revoke privileges . Yes, urban protesters still turn out, at the risk of being clubbed and arrested, to demand an end to corruption but no serious revolt threatens him.

The lack of a challenge from below has launched hundreds of books seeking to explain the enigma of Putin, his kleptocratic networks and how he plays with national symbols to appear as a heroic figure. […]

He takes his cue from the sociologist, Lev Gudkov who takes a different view, that "there is a feeling of no alternative, that nothing can done, that one way or another you must bow to power or learn to get along with it."

Exactly my opinion which, 'as y'all do know', emanates from a man who knows next to nothing of 'Mother Russia'!  Yet again, I pause and give praise to those greedy, murderous barons who had the gumption in 1215 to force King John of England to sign the Magna Carta Libertatum (Medieval Latin for "the Great Charter of the Liberties") which - natch! - led on to other things they absolutely never envisaged - and would have fought against given the chance!

Oh, the irony, the irony!

 

 

Laurence Fox for Prime Minister!

I'm shocked, I tell you, shocked!  Well, one doesn't expect to hear good sense delivered from the mouth of a 'luvvie', er, unless someone else wrote the words, but the splendid Laurence Fox has done just that - and impromptu words at that!  First of all, he ripped into the 'woke-lot' on BBC Question Time, telling a particularly dim woman in the audience that her criticism of him as a 'privileged white man' was in itself a racist comment - an irony that would have sailed miles over her head!

 

+3

 

 

And last night, according to The Mail, he ripped into Sam Mendes, the director of the film "1917" for introducing a Sikh soldier into the story line as though he was a member of a British regiment.  The Sikhs did indeed fight for Britain in WWI and they fought ferociously and bravely but they did so in their own formations and were never individual members of any British regiment.  I suspect that not many Sikhs will enjoy being patronised by the 'arty-farty woke brigade'!

 

 

That Rebecca Long-Bailey ain't all bad!

Of course, her political and economic opinions are dafter than a really daft thing but she has her good points, too.  I like her frowning disapproval of our totally lax laws on abortion, of which Dominic Lawson writes approvingly in today's Daily Mail:

He informs us that:

She pointed out that while abortions could not be carried out beyond the 24th week of a ‘normal’ pregnancy, it was allowed right up to full term if the unborn child was found to have a ‘disability’. Long-Bailey said: ‘I personally do not agree with this position.’

 

Good for her!  As Lawson goes on to inform us:

 

I am not a Catholic. Nor do I share Long-Bailey’s political views, which are what you might expect from someone who even after the election gave Jeremy Corbyn ‘ten out of ten’ for his leadership. But for personal reasons, I am grateful for her criticism of the way unborn children with disabilities are regarded as suitable for eradication at any time in the womb, unlike those designated ‘normal’. [My emphasis]

 

Politically, the girl might be nuts - but she's got guts!

 

 

Will the European Union last?

And perhaps another question is, do I want it to last?  The chances are that it will last because, in essence, it will be a fight between the dreaded 'Peeps' and the massed ranks and formations of politicians and bureaucrats all of whom have strong personal reasons to keep the racket rolling along.  Do I want it to continue?  Well, I'm not sure.  If it keeps our 'nearest and, er, dearest' in some sort of harmony that is "A Good Thing!"  On the other hand, if some of the constituent members attempt to exert undue pressures in order to 'command and control', that could kick off some major 'fireworks' and that would be "A Bad Thing".

In the end it will all come down to the 'Peeps' and their ruling classes.  Unlike us Brits, they do not, on the whole, deal sensibly with civic dissatisfaction.  They tend to over-rely on their water cannons and truncheons.  The first cracks in the edifice are likely to appear amongst the eastern Europeans.  They have recent and unpleasant memories of being ruled over from far away.  When things do kick off I suspect the response from Brussels will be clunkingly heavy-handed.

Perhaps I am being unduly cynical but, alas, I sense a rottenness at the heart of the European (dis)Union.