Desperate

Cartoon via mikemock.wordpress.com

There is a world of difference between a distraught employee begging not to be made redundant and some conniving, incompetent fraudster desperately trying to worm-out of being justifiably sacked. The difference is that a public sector care worker is distressed at the prospect of not being able to put food on the table and a Westminster politician worries about directorships, expenses claims, perks, power and being found out. We are already a month into the general election campaign and there are three and a bit months still to go.

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Dead men tell no tales

Kings of Leon

”The grave`s a fine and private place,
But none, I think, do there embrace.”
Andrew Marvell – To His Coy Mistress

So, farewell then Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, King of Saudi Arabia and Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. Time`s winged chariot has crossed the deserts of vast eternity and finally arrived in Riyadh. The touching tributes and moving obituaries delivered by state media described him as a moderniser, a reformer, a moderate, a humanitarian and a champion of women`s rights. The state media in this case was the BBC and the Union Flag flew at half mast over the Palace of Westminster as a mark of respect to honour the life and cheque book of this great man.

We have a problem

Image via Reuters

To mock a politician for his or her physique, appearance, weight or any other irrelevant corporal attribute is beneath contempt and has no place in serious political engagement. Eric Pickles has suffered no end of childish insults regarding his ample girth but there is much more to the Communities Secretary than simple being overweight. He might be a fat bastard, but he is also an ugly, stupid, fat bastard.

He is an ugly bastard because the day before he wrote to 1,000 Muslim clerics and other leaders telling them that they should be responsible for “explaining and demonstrating how faith in Islam can be part of British identity”; he and the Home Secretary held up signs proclaiming “Je Suis Juif”. To suggest that Islam and British identity are mutually exclusive is on a par with blaming British Jews for the Israeli atrocities currently taking place in Gaza. Using his own logic, Eric Pickles and Theresa May are guilty of war crimes against children. They have publicly stated without any thought of an impending election; “Je Suis Juif”.

The Beagle has landed

Via pixar.com

Even with imaginations the size of a galaxies, H G Wells, Isaac Asimov or Arthur C Clarke could never have concocted a scenario in which the planet Mars is conquered by a bloke called Colin from Bristol.

When, on Christmas Day 2003, contact with the Beagle 2 Martian Lander was lost, a whole load of ridicule was heaped upon the failed project. With the crystal clear clarity that only hindsight can offer, bar room astrophysicists knew all along that the British would fail to guide a space craft to the red planet. Even if it cost a fraction of similar attempts at planetary exploration, 50 million quid was a complete waste of money and some wiseacres blissfully unaware of Darwin`s Theory of Evolution highlighted the stupidity of naming the mission after a breed of dog. Most derisory laughter was, however, directed at the mission director and the commission inquiry into the failure blamed his management of the project as a contributory factor in the loss of the spacecraft.

Hypocrite lecteur!

Via En Direct

With hypocrisy now being delivered with the frequency of an atomic clock ticking out the seconds, there is no longer any need to rummage in dustbins looking for double standards. Breathtaking pretence and studied insincerity are spewing from the mouths of hypocrites like so many bullets from an automatic assault rifle.

The dreadful, horrific events in Paris during the last week have produced a reaction of disgust, solidarity and defiance from human beings who hold humanity as being more precious than barbarism. One and a half million people took to the streets of Paris to proclaim their belief in democracy and free speech; between 40 and 50 others gathered for a photo opportunity.