A Few Sledges Fron The Curate's Porch

Riots in Calabria :

The rioting began after Thursday's shooting, in which two men - one from Nigeria, the other from Togo - were lightly injured. The foreigners angrily blamed that shooting on racism, and groups of protesters stoned police, attacked residents and smashed shop windows and cars. Friday, angry migrants, mostly from African nations, some armed with metal bars or wooden sticks, scuffled with police and residents in the streets of Rosarno. Other residents were holed up in their homes, state radio reported, and schools and shops were shuttered.

Christians murdered in Egypt :

Thousands of Coptic Christians clashed with police in southern Egypt on Thursday during a funeral procession for seven people shot dead as they left a Christmas service hours earlier. The protesters pelted cars with stones and set fire to ambulances in the town of Nag Hamadi, 40 miles from the ancient ruins of Luxor. The riots were sparked by a drive-by shooting. Three men sprayed automatic gunfire into a crowd leaving a midnight Mass to mark the Coptic Christmas.

Christians attacked by Muslims in Malaysia :

There have been more attacks on churches in Malaysia, in a growing dispute over the use of the word Allah by non-Muslims. The police say petrol bombs were thrown at a church and a convent school in the northern state of Perak, and at a church on the island of Sarawak. Another church in the south of the country was daubed with black paint. The attacks come days after four churches near the capital, Kuala Lumpur, were hit by petrol bombs. Religious tensions in Malaysia have increased since a court ruled last month that a Roman Catholic newspaper could use the word Allah in its Malay-language edition to describe the Christian God.

The Lancashire town with an 8,000 population - and plans for a 5,000 pupil Islamic boarding school.

On the banks of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, the old cotton mill stands as a gigantic ghost-like relic of England’s industrial past. It seems unthinkable that this immense sprawl, a key source of employment for a century and a half, should have been idle for three years.

But an ambitious project to give the cluster of buildings a new lease of life, converting them into a boarding school for up to 5,000 Muslim girls, has bitterly divided the local community.

The eager support of parents of prospective pupils is rivalled by a deep hostility that has been shown in responses ranging from anxious questions in parliament to extreme right-wing allegations of plots to “Islamify” Britain.

Another extreme right-winger, former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey, adds fuel to the flames of hatred :

We have had to wait decades for this moment, but it has finally happened. A leading British clergyman has said something sensible about immigration.

Lord Carey of Clifton, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, this week signed a declaration by the Cross Party Group on Balanced Migration calling for an urgent tightening of borders to stop the British population reaching 70 million by 2029. He also gave an interview yesterday in which he called for a tougher Church. "We Christians are very often so soft that we allow other people to walk over us, and we are not as tough in what we want, in expressing our beliefs, because we do not want to upset other people," he said.

Adn two damn stupid articles in the New Statesman, which moderates its comments but can't afford to have anyone doing it over the weekend.

Jon Cruddas :

Labour, like the wider social-democratic tradition, has been unable to build a counterculture that can offer an alternative ethics of living and working. As a result, it has colluded in distinguishing morally between the "deserving" and "undeserving" poor.

It has ? You could have fooled me, mate.

History has shown us that economic crises generate middle-class panics about a "dangerous" underclass and its racial and sexual transgressions. In the 1980s, the new right embarked on a project to theorise an underclass in Britain. It drew on the work of the American political scientist Charles Murray, whose research had revived eugenicist debates about race and intelligence. Murray was invited to Britain by the Sunday Times in 1989 and his ideas were taken up by Digby Anderson's Social Affairs Unit. The American academic Lawrence Mead was also influential in reviving the belief that poverty was about behaviour and dependency, rather than economics and justice. The problem was not environment, but individual failing. The work of the new right laid the foundations for New Labour's welfare reforms.

Moral panic ! Moral panic ! It's just like the Garotting Panic of 1862 !

(Laban's Charles Murray posts here.)

The government calculated that it could triangulate the Conservatives and subject the underclass to punitive measures without alienating Labour's core supporters. Its refrain of "hard-working families" attempted to codify this division. But the so-called underclass is not a class apart as the new right and the social investigators of the 19th century tried to prove. It is an imagined body of people - chavs, hoodies, junkies - projected on to single mothers, the sick and parts of the working class impoverished by the impact of recession and unemployment.

Against stupidity the gods themselves battle in vain, what ?

And something even more weird by one Francis Beckett. Who he, you may ask ? Oh. Not an encouraging upbringing for anyone, really. Poor little rich kid.

His basic thesis - that the baby-boomer generation messed up big time - is one that few would dispute. Even the Magistrate is on board.

Magistrate :

I am one of the lucky-sod generation, born just after the war. I have had to cope with economic ups-and-downs, but I went to a grammar school, thanks to the 1944 Education Act, and thence to a university that was flush with funds, and at which I received £360 per annum grant. There were no tuition fees to pay, and a handsome room with full board cost me £6 per week. In the student bar beer was (in new-fangled money) 9p per pint.

Beckett :

The idea that one might have to pay for education, at any level, seemed to us primitive and backward-looking. In the Thirties, my grandmother used to save pennies in a tin in her kitchen, fearfully guarding against the day when one of her children might require medical attention. In the week that the National Health Service was inaugurated in 1948, GPs' surgeries were overwhelmed with patients whose painful and often life-threatening conditions had never been treated or even shown to a doctor. When we baby boomers were ill, we expected, as a right, the best treatment available. Paying for it never occurred to us.

There was full employment, and the slums were torn down and replaced with council housing, built to Aneurin Bevan's high standard. And what did we do with this extraordinary inheritance that had eluded our ancestors, and that an earlier generation had worked and fought to give us?

We trashed it.

It's in the 'why did we trash it' bit that he seems to lose touch with reality. Indeed I can't actually understand what, if anything, he's trying to say. We did indeed 'use up' the manifold blessings showered upon us - but how, exactly ? He almost seems to be suggesting that if only the Sixties had gone on for ever ...

Religion, royalty, government: nothing was sacrosanct in the Sixties, and everything could be questioned. But we used up the time when nothing was sacred. The age of deference seemed to be over, yet the baby boomers, who now run things, have seen how useful deference in for the governing class and are bringing it back as fast as they can.

How about - 'we trashed the existing culture and didn't replace it' - save with the dreadful secular liberal nostrums with which our rulers attempt to put back the ruins of the house, so carefully built - no, not so much built as grown organically on the bedrock of patriotism and Christianity, over generations, so easily destroyed in one.

Tin Foil Hat Alert (Agrippa Value - 549)

Not since the Bishop of London presided over an act of necrophilia at Buckingham Palace have I felt in such need of a tin-foil titfer.

Bristol Indymedia correspondent dizzy dissident tells all about Charles de Menezes, Blairs Tony and Ian, Ur of the Chaldees and Aleister Crowley.

Please note that this is gematria and is distinct from numerology and bible code. Do some research first if you're going to remark on the gematria and please be assured that I probably know far more about it than you do...

'Kratos' was formally signed off operationally and legally at a meeting on 22 January 2003 at MI5 headquarters in London.

Jean Charles de Menezes was killed 911 days after the introduction of the shoot-to-kill policy known as Operation Kratos. To clarify - I am saying 911 days after the introduction of Operation Kratos. If you do the math there is a difference of 912 days but it is still 911 days after. There is a similarity here that the event known as the Madrid Bombings or 3/11 occurred 911 days after the event known as 9/11 in New York.

An entry for 911 at the Aleister Crowley's 'Sepher Sephiroth' reference reads "beginning" and this is what I have come to understand the number 911 to mean...

The astral chart of Jean Charles de Menezes death is very similar to the Goat of Mendez showing an inverted pentangle. Also present is the alchemical symbol for water - the downward pointing triangle...

Occult gematria is based on the Hebrew alphabet and language. Water corresponds to the Hebrew letter Mem. This gives us a clue that Mem is a letter to watch out for in gematria. Hebrew is written right-to-left. The Mem-final or the left-most Mem is the one to watch out for.

There follows the application of gematria to Jean Charles de-Menezes' name. Remember that Jean Charles was Brizzle-ian...

Brizzle-ian ? Took me a moment to get that one.

I suppose it's just as big a waste of time to be in front of the telly every night.

Heatwave

Round here the snow has stayed as perfect powder since it fell on Tuesday - it's been so cold. Not good for snowballs as it doesn't cling, but lovely to kick up in great clouds. Yesterday it took three kettles of boiling water to unfreeze the chickens' drink dispenser.

This morning it feels positively tropical - only half a kettle needed for unfreezing, and walking the dog you could feel the snow compressing under the feet. It must be only around freezing or possibly a tad above.

It's Political Correctness Con Rad

"The N-word of the Narcissus"

(not a bad book actually - I have an unbowdlerised copy at home. And I note from the Wikipedia entry that the title's been bowdlerised for 100+ years. It was first published in the States as 'The Children of the Sea')

"reacting to the moral uncertainties of the Western world"

More canaries in the coal mine. I must confess I didn't know that Boris Johnson's first wife ("the Zuleika Dobson of his year" according to Toby Young - another portrait of the marriage here) is now a convert to Islam.

Let Yazza (for it is she) reveal all :

She was the first wife of Boris Johnson — clearly not a woman to shirk challenges. But then I find out that she has married a much younger Lahori man and imagines her future as an ageing wife who will happily accept her lot within an orthodox Islamic set-up and welcome a younger wife to produce children. It is her choice and one wishes her well.

Several of my close Pakistani and Arab friends are happily married to European wives, with both sides compromising on lifestyles and values.

That is not what Mostyn-Owen has opted for. First she has married a much younger, fit man and maybe feels excessively grateful. Then she is going for complete surrender, an uncritical acceptance of the most regressive practices of some of my co-religionists. The reactions of her family are subtly xenophobic and must hurt. But her actions are as inexplicable to Muslims like myself too. My mother's generation fought for equality and monogamous marriages, a struggle that carries on. To see the daughters of Britannia carelessly surrendering these rights is almost unbearable.

It is happening elsewhere in Europe too. Since 9/11, vast numbers of educated, privileged middle-class white women have converted to Islam, often the most restricted forms with tediously long rulebooks. Surveys suggest they are the fastest growing group of converts in the West. Here they include women at investment banks, TV stations, universities and in the NHS.

Four years ago, when the trend first became clear, Dr Haifa Jawad, of Birmingham University, said: “The women were reacting to the moral uncertainties of the Western world. Many convert out of conviction and not because they are in love.”

Mostyn-Owen says her husband is “untainted by the jaded confusion of western urban life”. Such images of contamination and purity are often used to explain the decisions. Three such converts told me last year their nun-like apparel makes them feel less objectified and they feel “cleansed”.

I get a distinct "wishy-washy standards of contemporary Christianity" vibe here, although to be fair in Mrs BoJo's case it's probably "the wishy-washy standards of contemporary liberalism". The Mail story linked above quotes her mother thus : "Boris is a man who needed someone very obedient and silent, who would be willing to stay in the background and create a soothing home life, while giving him space to build a glittering career. My daughter wasn't that kind of person." Slightly strange that she's opted for that yet again, or am I stereotyping ?

Talking of Charles le Gai Eaton, there's an interesting snippet of biography here, pinched from his 'Islam and the Destiny of Man'.

UPDATE - the lady herself, quoted in Readers Digest :

"I've never regularly attended church, yet I have been to this mosque, my mosque, more times than I can remember. It's a place where I sometimes feel spiritually transported. As I busy myself on the carpet sorting colours and papers after what is always an exhausting class, I am soothed by the azan of evening prayers, the haunting and sometimes pained invocations to the Almighty. I feel my humility, and then realize this is my act of worship, my submission, my Islam. Forget the fact that only men take part in communal prayers, I am a token Christian discreetly trafficking through the men's space with my bags of materials, pretending I'm not really there. I am there, I am accepted, and this is all that matters."

UPDATE 2 - from the comments to Yazza's piece :

In places like Morocco - there is a whole sub industry in marrying mainly older western women - to gain papers and passport to Europe, America - even Japan.

I don't mean to offend - but Muslim men are usually married to first cousins or other family members - before a Muslim girl marries - she must undergo a virginity test at the doctors -

I have spent time in the Muslim world - hard to call everyone who sees this thing for what it is - a racist. But there I was told that women who cannot produce a virginity certificate - are laughed at, called whores, and can remain unwed for the rest of their lives. Many turn to prostitution.

If one of these same man marries a western woman - who is older and not a virgin - then he only sees her as a way to escape his country's conditions.

How the game works - is these guys are prepared to enter into long term relationships with you - in one case - a young girl having a relationship with a young Muslim man - was meant to return there and bring the foreign marriage papers - when she turned up without them - the relationship was called off - she probably had some sense talked into her by her parents - but she was there after referred to as the 'stupid' girl who did not bring the papers. And I was approached to take money to marry this guy and bring him back to Europe.

Other cases EU ladies in relationships with these men have sent them money - the guy then took the money, brought a house and married a cousin as his family wished.

- Rebecca, uk

Just One Cornetto (Friday Night Is Elvis Night)

75 years ago yestreen the man was born - Mark Steyn reveals all about 'It's Now Or Never' aka 'O Sole Mio' aka 'Just One Cornetto':

It was Elvis' biggest hit, selling some 25 million copies worldwide, Number One for five weeks in the US and for eight weeks in Britain. For the rest of his life it was Presley's personal favorite out of all his records. And it was "It's Now Or Never" that spurred Barry White's Pauline prison conversion from a life of crime to a life of heavy-breathing luuuuuurv ballads. Yet it took a long and tortuous path before it fell into the hands of Aaron Schroeder and the King. "It's Now Or Never" has its origins in ...go on, guess.

Naples?

Close. The Ukraine.

Odessa, to be precise.


In tribute I'd like to introduce you to this remarkable take on 'Just One Cornetto', sung by what sounds like Lisa Gerrard's little sister. Love the guitar, too - and I especially love the unexpected, falling last line. Sing more, sister !





It's a long way from Tupelo to Bulgaria. But while we're on the subject of women with exceptional voices ...






And finally ... bear with me on this one. I've always been fond of stuff with sequencers - 'Baba O'Reilly' - type music. The song, such as it is, is merely the bread either side of the extended jam sandwich in the centre. Kicks in after about 45 seconds. The studio version is better.

But this is almost worth watching for the clothes and the 'dancing' alone IMHO - a real 1972 cultural artefact. Curved Air.

Well Strike A Light

Last year I noted the sad case of Brum Labour Party's Elaina Cohen, who applied to be the party's candidate for the Lozells council seat and was told by another councillor "They will not vote for someone who is white and Jewish. My Muslim members don't want you because you are Jewish".

As it turns out, not all Muslim members feel the same way about her :

Khalid Mahmood, who is the MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, claimed a total of £1,350 for nine nights stay over a four-week period in 2004, when he stayed at The Bentley hotel in Kensington. He also claimed £1,225 for five nights stay in 2008.

Mahmood used the hotel after separating from partner Nasim Akhtar, with whom he lived in Wembley, though this address was not given on his 2004 claims form. He checked into the hotel with then girlfriend Elaina Cohen under the fake names Mr Khaled and Eleine Mahmood.

I'd have thought, given the first story, that Mr Mahmood (about whom I know little except that
he made a pretty decent stab at keeping 'community tensions' down at the time of the Lozells riots) might find he's peeved some of his constituents by his dalliance - unless of course he could persuade Ms Cohen to 'do an Osborne' and convert to Islam.

More Canaries

George Osborne's brother Mohammed (ne Adam), shown below reprising Kenneth Williams' unforgettable role as the ruler of Khalabar :

'Rahala explained to her three brothers and two sisters that she was deeply in love and wanted to marry Adam. I don't think they were too keen. Her older sister, who had an arranged marriage, was especially resistant.

'Over time, however, and after meeting him on a few occasions, they came around to the idea. And when Adam announced that he was going to convert to Islam, it enabled everyone to accept the relationship.'

And perhaps at the other end of whatever spectrum there might be, Ibrahim (ne Maurice) Anderson, composer of 'A Means for Dawah' and currently facing trial on charges of using threatening, abusive, insulting words and behaviour at a homecoming parade in Luton for the Anglian Regiment.

Alas, Poor Tunny

When I was a wee lad, we used to eat tinned 'tunny fish', caught in the North Sea. Tasted great.

Then they were fished out, and we ate tinned 'tuna' instead, caught not in the North sea but more exotic waters. Came in varieties like 'skipjack', 'yellowfin' and 'bonito'. Not as nice as tunny, we thought, but we got accustomed to the new stuff, and now I can't remember what tunny tastes like - must be 45 years since I ate any.

If this site is right, we were actually eating Northern bluefin tuna - and it's now a critically endangered species.

This is a public information post.

Grit-Banditry ...

.. the shame of our cities.

"We know all about equality and independence — we've been there"

The practicalities are all, it seems - Marie Claire (!) on Russia's classes for millionaire-hunters :

To the Western feminist mind, it might seem a bit retrograde, yet Varra insists that Russian women are the ultimate post-feminists. "We know all about equality and independence — we've been there," she tells me. During the Soviet era, which ended in 1991, millions of men died in wars and labor camps. Women often ran their households alone, while also working in factories. The problem is that Russian men, says Varra, remain deeply patriarchal and still expect women to be subservient. "Rather than try to change men, which will take another 200 years," she says, "we might as well get whatever we can out of them now."

NYT - "20% of UK Students Are Muslim"

Is this true ? Seems like a high number to me, although I'd expect 10%ish - after all, a Government report in 2006 said that "in 10 years time, 15% of the workforce will be Muslim".

Where did the New York Times get these figures from ? Anyone know ?

Investigators are now, in fact, turning a sharper and retrospective eye to the passage in Mr. Abdulmutallab’s life that began immediately after his summer in Sana, Yemen, in 2005, when he enrolled as a $25,000-a-year mechanical engineering student at University College London. In recent days, officials in Washington and London have said they are focusing on the possibility that his London years, including his possible contacts with radical Muslim groups in Britain, were decisive in turning him toward Islamic extremism.

That view, if confirmed, would offer a stark reaffirmation that Britain, the United States’ closest ally, continues to pose a major threat to American security. Critics in Britain and the United States say the British security forces, despite major increases in budgets and manpower in recent years, have not yet succeeded in adequately monitoring, much less restraining, the Islamic militancy that thrives in the vast network of mosques that serve the nation’s 1.5 million Muslims — and on university campuses across the country where nearly 100,000 of the 500,000 students are Muslims, including many, like Mr. Abdulmutallab, from overseas.

UPDATE - Muhammad Abdul ('Two million Muslim terrorists') Bari of the Muslim Council of Britain, quoted at Socialist Unity : "there are approximately 100,000 Muslim students at universities across the UK, the vast majority of whom are law-abiding and play a full and active role in student life."

Money From (potential) Misery

As the Walkman generation was succeeded by the mp3 and Ipod generations, and an increasing number of us walked around with plugs in our lugs, I became convinced that we were likely to see and increasing number of not-terribly-elderly with hearing difficulties. Young people just don't like turning it down.

At that point it also became apparent that hearing-aid manufacturers were likely to benefit. But who makes hearing aids ?

This blog gives some investment suggestions. I know nowt about the blog or the companies they suggest (except Siemens), so caveat emptor.



(inspired by this Clive Davis post)

Quote Of The Day

David Duff on erogenous zones, real or imagined :

I was always a very attentive and tender lover who never forgot to ask afterwards, "How was it for you, darling?" even if I never quite managed to stay awake long enough to catch the reply.

The Mumbles Train

I blogged the Mumbles train a couple of years back :

Any fule kno that the world's first passenger railway, the Mumbles train, would have been 200 years old this year. It was scrapped in 1960 by the local council, all of whose members are now being toasted here. Ever since I can remember, Swansea councils have been corrupt, incompetent or both - and according to this blog the tradition lives on.

Had it survived it would have been a World Heritage site and the biggest tourist attraction in Wales.

I'm just old enough to have ridden the beastie. The terminus was at the back end of the long-gone Victoria Station, in what used to be a fascinating hinterland between station and docks. Railway lines ran in the roads between the warehouses and docksides - the Swansea of Kingsley Amis' novel 'That Uncertain Feeling'. Alas all gone, replaced by dual carriageway, retail sheds and a sanitised marina.

The journey - along the sea front past the prison, the Vetch, the Slip (with its station, floral gardens, bridge and beach funfair), Patti Pavilion and St Helens, to Blackpill (where the accompanying main railway line turned off towards Gowerton), Oystermouth and the Pier - is still pleasant now, as a walk or bike ride on the path where the line ran. But it doesn't compare with a pasteboard ticket, a box of Paynes Poppets from the machine at the terminus, and a gloriously rackety journey. In winter the ride could be scary. The train always rocked a bit, but in a gale it would move disconcertingly. Upstairs, where the motion was accentuated, you'd wonder if it was about to fall over into the sea. Downstairs, with a stormy high tide the spray of breaking waves would slap against the windows - if you left them open you could get wet. We loved it.

I'm pleased to see that someone has put this excellent video tribute, showing then-and-now video of the line, onto Youtube. The first part's soundtrack is Spencer Davis' (of this lot fame) lament 'The Mumbles Train', from his latest 'So Far' release. A Swansea boy (didn't his mum work in the Lewis Lewis department store ?), Spencer is still playing .

At 4:58 you can see children retrieving their flattened pennies from the line after the train has passed.



I said that in a storm at high tide you could get wet unless you shut the downstairs windows. This recent video, taken on a stormy day near the end of what was the line, shows that you'd sometimes need to shut the upstairs ones too. The line ran right alongside the water. You can see why a ride on a stormy night was an adventure.

I trust Sarah and Liz will enjoy the video, if they've not seen it before. More stills of the Blitz and (near the end) the train here.

The Art of Football

On Boxing Day, being in Sarf London, we took a trip down to Kingsmeadow to see the reborn Dons, AFC Wimbledon, beat Hayes and Yeading 5-0. Although a Baggies fan, I'd watched the Dons in their 80s glory days at the Lane and got soaked at Huddersfield on that radiation-rainy day when they made the top flight.

At the end of this video of the game, the camera shows this flag at the Tempest End.



Intrigued, I googled the phrase and found this. It appears that enigmatic artist-in-residence Fleydon premieres all his new works at Kingsmeadow.

Inspired by sources from the great masters :



Via the socialist realism of Soviet Russia :



Through iconic images of the 40s :



To cutting-edge modern imagery - all sorts, in fact.

(and it's £2 for kids and £6 for students at Kingsmeadow. A whacking tray of chips is £1.50 and the tea is made with real teabags. What more could one want from a footy club?)

Poverty Causes Crime Part 372

This from Booker Rising.

Crittenton allegedly became angry at Arenas for refusing to make good on a gambling debt. That prompted Arenas to draw on Crittenton, who then also grabbed for a gun. Arenas denies pulling a gun on Crittenton.

Players’ union executive director Billy Hunter called the matter “unprecedented in the history of sports.” “I’ve never heard of players pulling guns on each other in a locker room,” he said.

According to this site Arenas earns $16m pa. Poor Crittenton only earns $1.5m. Maybe it's income inequality that's to blame !

Police Shoot Intruder At Home of Danish Cartoonist

The Telegraph say the intruder was a Somali and he had an axe. The BBC say he was 'a man' and had a hammer (whether he intended to bring about love between the brothers and the sisters all over this land - or any other land - is unclear).

But what seems indisputable is that the intruder in the home of Kurt Westergaard was shot. May a similar fate attend all who disturb his domestic peace !


UPDATE - the BBC have updated their story,which was breaking news at midnight last night. One or two commenters have pointed out that "in the wake of the Nigerian with the incendiary underpants, al-Beeb appears to be adhering less rigourously to the MONA rule.". If I understand him correctly, the Dumb One posits that the Nigerian-ness of the underpants man is being emphasised in order to de-emphasise his religion.

Friday Night Music - Italian Style

If you wait long enough, everything arrives on Youtube. While this probably sounded better after a couple of carafes of bianco secco, I'm still quite taken with the sub-Phil Collins style. From a 1981 (stuff like Say Hello, Wave Goodbye was in the charts) ski holiday in Sauzi D'Oulx, this was rarely off the jukebox. I believe the title approximates to 'I Don't Want Wings'.

NWOBJ again

I've noted before the technical incompetence of the New Wave Of British Jihad (© Laban Tall 2007).

The New Wave Of British Jihad is IMHO very poor quality compared with its illustrious predecessors. If the "Fantastic Four" were alive today they'd be turning in their graves.

I'd been wondering for a long time why science education was being dumbed down so much, to seeming government indifference.

The fact that these guys can't put anything that makes a bang together is a tribute to our education system. I understand now that Blair and Brown have been playing the long game - ensuring that anyone who hates them won't have the skills to do anything about it.

If those guys had gone to a decent privately run educational establishment - say a madrassa in Waziristan - they'd have been far more successful in their chosen career.

Now we see an engineering graduate of University College London who can't detonate military grade explosive. As Ross puts it :

The fact that an engineering alumnus from one of Britain's most prestigious universities can't even detonate an explosive is a damning indictment of our education system. It was one thing when an ex con retard like Richard Reid couldn't light up his shoes but this is absurd.

No wonder employers are increasingly critical of the quality of UK graduates.