Oh No...
9 hours ago
Saturday, June 03, 2006
Friday, June 02, 2006
Not Tonight, Darling
I'm interested in what is revealed about our brave new world by the writer's assumption, evidently shared by 'Julie' and her dates, that postponing sex beyond the second date is conclusive evidence of pathology. Surely Aldous Huxley would have been astounded at his own prophetic powers.
Mr Grumpy on the newest medical invention. From the people who gave you Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, could you put your hands together for 'Sexual Anorexia' !
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Amsterdam
BBC television news has an item about "legal highs", which reminded me of a trip I took to Amsterdam a few years back.
I was amazed to find that some of the 'head shops' sold small-dose tablets of various drugs which you could buy for your pet - the idea being that you and your dog or cat get off your heads together.
I went inside to look around and heard a young customer at the counter.
"Excuse me, man" he said, "how much is that dog 'E' in the window ?"
I was amazed to find that some of the 'head shops' sold small-dose tablets of various drugs which you could buy for your pet - the idea being that you and your dog or cat get off your heads together.
I went inside to look around and heard a young customer at the counter.
"Excuse me, man" he said, "how much is that dog 'E' in the window ?"
Then They Came For The Students ...
Student Ben Berger told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "This is the university breaching my human right to fly the national flag of my country.
"The university have treated us with contempt. They originally told us we weren't allowed flags at all because flags might create an opportunity for violence.
"International students have chosen to come to this country so I don't think they will have a problem with the English flag."
Flags have been physically removed from halls of residence by university officials.
In a statement, the university said: "The university is saddened by this behaviour, but if somebody prefers petulance to common sense and give-and-take, the best thing to do is to leave them to wallow in that petulance and watch to see if they continue with that approach to life when they leave."
MIAAAOOOWWW !
"The university have treated us with contempt. They originally told us we weren't allowed flags at all because flags might create an opportunity for violence.
"International students have chosen to come to this country so I don't think they will have a problem with the English flag."
Flags have been physically removed from halls of residence by university officials.
In a statement, the university said: "The university is saddened by this behaviour, but if somebody prefers petulance to common sense and give-and-take, the best thing to do is to leave them to wallow in that petulance and watch to see if they continue with that approach to life when they leave."
MIAAAOOOWWW !
Happy Birthday !
To the "respect agenda" - one year old. As we've seen, it's been a great success.
To repeat myself :
And happy birthday to tracking on this blog, installed two years ago. 280,000 visits - up from about 80 a day to 6-700. 20,000 in May. Thank you for visiting.
To repeat myself :
"I want to send a very clear signal from Parliament, not just the government, that this type of disrespect and yobbish behaviour will not be tolerated any more"
And how exactly will you do that ? The prisons are full. Your client groups don't think people should be sent there for stealing, or indeed anything apart from racism, hunting and domestic violence.
I know. You'll send a guy with a stud in his tongue and a bag of skunk in his back pocket to talk to them. And when that doesn't work ? He'll talk to their parents. And when that doesn't work ?
He'll talk to his peers, agree that the Smith family are 'very difficult', and blame globalisation or the Daily Mail.
And happy birthday to tracking on this blog, installed two years ago. 280,000 visits - up from about 80 a day to 6-700. 20,000 in May. Thank you for visiting.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Things Haven't Got Worse ....
Knowle, Bristol, where "People don't feel unsafe walking the streets of Knowle, at least in the day time".
"Warden patrols commenced in July 2002 in response to fears and worries among residents about crime, anti-social behaviour, drugs and litter and dumping"
"Long term and second generation unemployment has taken hold of the communities and many parts of the area are now caught in a downward spiral. It is difficult for existing businesses to survive, the poor image renders them unattractive to inward investors, aspirations are low and disengagement has become the norm. High levels of poverty and unemployment are related to a whole range of additional problems including educational underachievement, health, disaffection, drug abuse and anti-social behaviour."
'Knowle Safe' is the community safety arm of the Knowle West Development Trust and aims to reduce crime and fear in one of Bristol's most troubled neighbourhoods.
With 35% of the local population under the age of 15, the project was created to address issues on the Knowle and Filwood estate of South Bristol in:
high arrest rates
school truancy
drug problems
"Warden patrols commenced in July 2002 in response to fears and worries among residents about crime, anti-social behaviour, drugs and litter and dumping"
"Long term and second generation unemployment has taken hold of the communities and many parts of the area are now caught in a downward spiral. It is difficult for existing businesses to survive, the poor image renders them unattractive to inward investors, aspirations are low and disengagement has become the norm. High levels of poverty and unemployment are related to a whole range of additional problems including educational underachievement, health, disaffection, drug abuse and anti-social behaviour."
'Knowle Safe' is the community safety arm of the Knowle West Development Trust and aims to reduce crime and fear in one of Bristol's most troubled neighbourhoods.
With 35% of the local population under the age of 15, the project was created to address issues on the Knowle and Filwood estate of South Bristol in:
high arrest rates
school truancy
drug problems
Quote Of The Day
Gary Hopkins, Liberal Democrat councillor for Knowle, Bristol, on the latest stabbing.
"Knowle has its problems with drugs and some types of crime, but this will come as a big surprise to the community.
"People don't feel unsafe walking the streets of Knowle, at least in the day time - which makes this so out of character and shocking."
"Knowle has its problems with drugs and some types of crime, but this will come as a big surprise to the community.
"People don't feel unsafe walking the streets of Knowle, at least in the day time - which makes this so out of character and shocking."
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Eh Bien !
They're at it again. To celebrate the recent BBC "World Cup Stories" edition about the French team - how Zidane and co. abolished all civil strife and produced multicultural Nirvana in 1998, the rioting season has kicked off early in Paris.
PS - I missed this last year. Talk about the revolution devouring its own children.
"Dolls were being evacuated from the creche in Fives, a rundown district of Lille near France's Belgian border, the day after a petrol bomb burnt out the empty sleeping area and scorched activity rooms.
Little remained of the public nursery school in Acheres, west of Paris, other than the snapshots of toddlers stuck to a wall after fire brought down a roof and devoured rooms in the night.
When a blazing car was rammed up against the nursery in Mirail, in the southern city of Toulouse, the rioters did more than trash a building - they shattered a small community"
PS - I missed this last year. Talk about the revolution devouring its own children.
"Dolls were being evacuated from the creche in Fives, a rundown district of Lille near France's Belgian border, the day after a petrol bomb burnt out the empty sleeping area and scorched activity rooms.
Little remained of the public nursery school in Acheres, west of Paris, other than the snapshots of toddlers stuck to a wall after fire brought down a roof and devoured rooms in the night.
When a blazing car was rammed up against the nursery in Mirail, in the southern city of Toulouse, the rioters did more than trash a building - they shattered a small community"
Slow Boat To Barbados
A boat has been found off the coast of Barbados containing the decomposed remains of eleven Africans.
More at the BBC.
It is thought the men were attempting to reach Spain's Canary Islands.
Coastguards brought the 20ft (6m) unmarked boat into port at Bridgetown after the gruesome discovery was made by a local fisherman in April.
Barbados police have said the cause of the deaths was starvation and dehydration.
Faut de Pire on the 'root cause' of the tragedy. Last year, 700,000 illegal immigrants were granted an amnesty by the incoming Spanish Socialists.
"There was just one problem. Far from solving the country's illegal immigration problem, the Spanish amnesty instead triggered a new wave of migration. Spain's Canary Islands, which lie just off the African coast, have over the past year witnessed a surge in illegal entries, with boatloads of mainly sub-Saharan Africans being intercepted there on an almost daily basis. "
"I would like to send to my family in Bassada a sum of money. Please excuse me and goodbye. This is the end of my life in this big Moroccan sea."
This sad note scribbled on a piece of paper was among the few items local police investigators found on board the ill-fated boat discovered off the St Philip coast April 29.
Tucked between 11 badly decomposed bodies, the message, written in Senagalese, told the tale of surrender – parting words from one of an estimated 52 West Africans who, in their bid for a better life, perished or succumbed to the bowels of the North Atlantic Ocean.
More at the BBC.
It is thought the men were attempting to reach Spain's Canary Islands.
Coastguards brought the 20ft (6m) unmarked boat into port at Bridgetown after the gruesome discovery was made by a local fisherman in April.
Barbados police have said the cause of the deaths was starvation and dehydration.
Faut de Pire on the 'root cause' of the tragedy. Last year, 700,000 illegal immigrants were granted an amnesty by the incoming Spanish Socialists.
"There was just one problem. Far from solving the country's illegal immigration problem, the Spanish amnesty instead triggered a new wave of migration. Spain's Canary Islands, which lie just off the African coast, have over the past year witnessed a surge in illegal entries, with boatloads of mainly sub-Saharan Africans being intercepted there on an almost daily basis. "
Monday, May 29, 2006
"Bulger Killer" Convicted Of Attempted Murder
"It's not been reported anywhere in the UK news, but a Scouser living in Kilkenny, Ireland has claimed to be one of the infamous killers of toddler James Bulger.
Last Tuesday, Sean Walsh was given a 15-year sentence by Kilkenny Circuit Court for the attempted murder of his pregnant girlfriend and her three-year-old daughter in November 2004. He has claimed to be Robert Thompson since he was held on remand over a year ago."
David Holford has the details. More here and here.
Last Tuesday, Sean Walsh was given a 15-year sentence by Kilkenny Circuit Court for the attempted murder of his pregnant girlfriend and her three-year-old daughter in November 2004. He has claimed to be Robert Thompson since he was held on remand over a year ago."
David Holford has the details. More here and here.
Identity
David Goodhart in the Grauniad points out that Labour's shrinking base of 'traditional supporters' don't have the same worldview as the rootless cosmopolitans of Islington.
"Public opinion has been growing more polarised in recent years between, on the one hand, a cosmopolitan minority with a universalist, rights-based, post-national ideology that is comfortable in today's more fluid, pluralist society; and, on the other, a more traditional group that is sceptical about rapid change and more concerned with roots and reciprocity. In newspaper terms, it is the Guardian v the Sun.
Labour's problem is that both groups are part of its historic coalition. On the cosmopolitan side is much of the liberal middle class, and on the traditional side is a large part of the old working class. To try to accommodate both (as well as Britain's settled minorities, who occupy most points along the value spectrum), Labour rhetoric has swung, sometimes alarmingly, between the two poles - from celebrating mass immigration, "cool Britannia" and the Human Rights Act, to tough talking on crime, managed migration and ID cards."
I'm not sure he's completely right either about the traditional support being the old working class or about the cosmopolitans. You could argue that while Labour voters have traditionally been working class Brits, the traditional activist base has been middle-class and non-manual for a very long time. Orwell's description of the lecture audience in Coming Up For Air was written sixty years ago. When I worked in industry in the early Eighties it was the junior blokes in the office, and us techies in the labs, who supported the miners. The shop-floor, TGWU members all, thought Scargill should be shot.
And what's all this crap about Labour's middle class supporting a "universalist, rights-based, post-national ideology" ? Would that they did ! The Euston Manifesto crowd are universalists, fair enough. But most of the educated Left certainly haven't got a 'post-national' or 'universalist' ideology. They're happy with Welsh Nationalism, Scots Nationalism, Irish Nationalism, Indian Nationalism, and all the nationalisms of the former Imperial possessions. There are only two nations to whom the postnational discourse applies - Britain and England.
"Creating a plausible "third way" for the security and identity issues - appealing to both the liberal and the anxious - is hard but not impossible. Contrary to the leftist caricature, those citizens who are anxious about rapid change are not all xenophobes; and contrary to the rightwing caricature, most reasonable liberals accept the need for national borders and for balancing individual rights against national security."
Well, good luck, David.
Goodhart's still-optimistic piece is best read in conjunction with Robert Henderson's "Culturally Cleansing The English" at the English nationalist site Steadfast.
"Public opinion has been growing more polarised in recent years between, on the one hand, a cosmopolitan minority with a universalist, rights-based, post-national ideology that is comfortable in today's more fluid, pluralist society; and, on the other, a more traditional group that is sceptical about rapid change and more concerned with roots and reciprocity. In newspaper terms, it is the Guardian v the Sun.
Labour's problem is that both groups are part of its historic coalition. On the cosmopolitan side is much of the liberal middle class, and on the traditional side is a large part of the old working class. To try to accommodate both (as well as Britain's settled minorities, who occupy most points along the value spectrum), Labour rhetoric has swung, sometimes alarmingly, between the two poles - from celebrating mass immigration, "cool Britannia" and the Human Rights Act, to tough talking on crime, managed migration and ID cards."
I'm not sure he's completely right either about the traditional support being the old working class or about the cosmopolitans. You could argue that while Labour voters have traditionally been working class Brits, the traditional activist base has been middle-class and non-manual for a very long time. Orwell's description of the lecture audience in Coming Up For Air was written sixty years ago. When I worked in industry in the early Eighties it was the junior blokes in the office, and us techies in the labs, who supported the miners. The shop-floor, TGWU members all, thought Scargill should be shot.
And what's all this crap about Labour's middle class supporting a "universalist, rights-based, post-national ideology" ? Would that they did ! The Euston Manifesto crowd are universalists, fair enough. But most of the educated Left certainly haven't got a 'post-national' or 'universalist' ideology. They're happy with Welsh Nationalism, Scots Nationalism, Irish Nationalism, Indian Nationalism, and all the nationalisms of the former Imperial possessions. There are only two nations to whom the postnational discourse applies - Britain and England.
"Creating a plausible "third way" for the security and identity issues - appealing to both the liberal and the anxious - is hard but not impossible. Contrary to the leftist caricature, those citizens who are anxious about rapid change are not all xenophobes; and contrary to the rightwing caricature, most reasonable liberals accept the need for national borders and for balancing individual rights against national security."
Well, good luck, David.
Goodhart's still-optimistic piece is best read in conjunction with Robert Henderson's "Culturally Cleansing The English" at the English nationalist site Steadfast.
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Lidget Green Riots - What Appears To Be The Truth
When rioting broke out in Bradford in April 2001 (a few months before the Manningham riots) the media reports were, to put it mildly, confusing. The role of the mysterious 'group of white men' was obscure. Apparently they'd attacked a pub where a Hindu wedding was taking place. So Muslim youth burned down a pub a few hundred yards away ! It didn't make sense.
I was particularly interested - and concerned - as I'd lived in the area for several years.
Look at this Telegraph article.
Trouble began when a group of about 30 white youths are believed to have clashed with members of the wedding party at the Coach House pub in Legrams Lane. The reception was in a private room, but fighting spilled out on to the street and cars in the car park were set on fire.
Supt Mark Whyman, of West Yorkshire Police, confirmed that officers had separated two rival groups, with the majority on one side being white youths.
So we appear to have white racists burning cars outside the Coach House.
Rioters went on to set fire to the Second West pub and looted the pharmacy in Horton Grange Road before setting fire to that. Terry Lawrence, 57, licensee of the Second West, said: "We were surrounded by about 100 Asians who started pelting some things in through the windows. There were road signs, concrete slabs and Yorkshire stone coming in and knocking out complete window frames.
"An 80-year-old woman was hit on the head by a rock as it came through and somebody else had a heart attack. Another man had been hit in the face with a piece of flying glass. You could see his teeth through his cheek. We were all so scared we moved everyone upstairs."
Uh ? Rioters went on to set fire to a pub, did they ? But these weren't the same rioters as before. If they 'went on', what from ? And what of the first lot of rioters ?
This timeline seems to have all the answers. It looks as if drunken white thugs may have started the trouble at the Coach House. But it wasn't they who finished it, nor was it they who set fire to cars. Or burned the pub. The poor Hindus in the pub were attacked by white thugs earlier and Muslim thugs later.
It is also plain that totally innocent white people were being attacked - and in several instances nearly killed - purely because of the colour of their skin.
Timeline
7.30pm
A 30-40 strong group of predominantly white males enter the public bar of the Coach House on Legrams Lane. They have visited other pubs - possibly in Clayton and Lidget Green - and some appear drunk and `unsteady on their feet'. Some `banter' between these and a small number of Indians in the bar becomes heated. A racist comment from one of the white group sparks a fight which spills onto the street outside. Bystanders become drawn into the disturbance outside the pub and the scale of the violence begins to escalate.
7.50pm
A group of white men chase an Indian across the road into the Bilal pizza takeaway opposite. When he escapes through a rear exit, the windows of the shop are smashed. Asian bystanders who saw this incident may have perceived it as an attack on their community, building tensions for further confrontation.
7.59pm
The first 999 call is made from the Coach House as a number of windows are smashed at the pub.
8.10pm
The battling gangs move a short way down Legrams Lane towards Clayton Road. Members of the white group board a bus which heads back past the Coach House. Here, a group of around 30 Asians point out the `troublemakers' to small team of police officers who have arrived on the scene. They stop the bus but the men jump out of an emergency exit. The officers try to keep the two factions apart but are unable to do so. Fighting breaks out again and the white group move down towards the Second West pub, shouting and chanting on the way.
8.15pm
Another fight breaks out outside the Second West. After a few minutes, this appears to die down and the white group move away.
8.30pm
Having travelled through Beckside Road and Spencer Road, the white group arrive in Woodhead Road where they begin fighting with a predominantly Asian crowd. This violent disturbance involves between 50 and 100 people. Police attempt to halt the disorder and three people are arrested. The white group move away towards the city centre and are not involved in the violence again.
8.30pm
At the same time, the Ukrainian Club in Legrams Lane is damaged by stone-throwing gangs. One attacker `clubs' a 47-year-old in the head with a stone. An older man suffers head injuries from a hurled missile.
8.55pm
Gangs gather outside the Second West pub and attack it with stones, bricks and other missiles. While customers and staff seek shelter upstairs, some of the mob force their way into building and take cash from the till and fruit machines. The premises are badly smashed up and fires started. Missiles are thrown through upstairs windows and a number of people are injured.
9.05pm
Another crowd surround the Coach House and start hurling objects through upstairs and downstairs windows.
9.10pm
A married couple are pulled from their white Vespa scooter in Legrams Lane by an angry mob. They are beaten until crowd realised the pillion passenger is a women. Local residents come out to help the victims.
9.15pm
The Willowfield Hotel in Legrams Lane is next to come under a hail of missiles, with windows being smashed.
9.30pm
A 18-year-old Asian man suffers head injuries after being hit by a stone in Legrams Lane.
9.35pm
The Coach House pub comes under a serious `sustained attack'. Members of the mob enter the pub and cause extensive damage throughout. Members of staff and customers gather upstairs, fearing for the lives. In the car park, eight vehicles are set alight as the violence reaches a peak.
9.45pm
A 50-year-old man and his family are driving through Legrams Lane when a lump of concrete is thrown through the window of his white Fiat Bravo. The man is hit in the face, breaking his jaw.
9.45pm
Close by, a crowd surrounds a red Ford Escort, driven by a 40-year-old woman. As she turns to her daughter in the back of the car, she is hit by a missile, badly bruising her back. She manages to drive away and undergoes hospital treatment.
10.30pm
A 28-year old Asian man in Legrams Lane is injured by a flying missile.
10.45pm
A crowd gathers outside the Oddfellows pub in Legrams Lane and begin smashing the windows with bricks and stones. Staff and patrons run upstairs for cover.
10.55pm
The windows are smashed at the Lloyds Pharmacy in Legrams Lane. Members of the mob force their way in and steal stock before setting light to some of the fixtures. The flames do not take hold although serious smoke damage is caused.
11pm
Nurse Julie Cook suffers serious facial injuries when a brick is thrown through a window of her Isuzu Trooper at the junction of Horton Grange Road and Great Horton Road. She later undergoes reconstructive surgery in a bid to save the sight in her right eye.
11pm
A 62-year-old retired teacher is hit in the arm by missile which flies through the window of her car in Horton Grange Road.
Shortly after 11pm, the last pockets of the disturbance end and police restore order to Lidget Green. At least 19 people have been assaulted, 54 cars attacked and hundreds of thousands of pounds of damage caused.
I was particularly interested - and concerned - as I'd lived in the area for several years.
Look at this Telegraph article.
Trouble began when a group of about 30 white youths are believed to have clashed with members of the wedding party at the Coach House pub in Legrams Lane. The reception was in a private room, but fighting spilled out on to the street and cars in the car park were set on fire.
Supt Mark Whyman, of West Yorkshire Police, confirmed that officers had separated two rival groups, with the majority on one side being white youths.
So we appear to have white racists burning cars outside the Coach House.
Rioters went on to set fire to the Second West pub and looted the pharmacy in Horton Grange Road before setting fire to that. Terry Lawrence, 57, licensee of the Second West, said: "We were surrounded by about 100 Asians who started pelting some things in through the windows. There were road signs, concrete slabs and Yorkshire stone coming in and knocking out complete window frames.
"An 80-year-old woman was hit on the head by a rock as it came through and somebody else had a heart attack. Another man had been hit in the face with a piece of flying glass. You could see his teeth through his cheek. We were all so scared we moved everyone upstairs."
Uh ? Rioters went on to set fire to a pub, did they ? But these weren't the same rioters as before. If they 'went on', what from ? And what of the first lot of rioters ?
This timeline seems to have all the answers. It looks as if drunken white thugs may have started the trouble at the Coach House. But it wasn't they who finished it, nor was it they who set fire to cars. Or burned the pub. The poor Hindus in the pub were attacked by white thugs earlier and Muslim thugs later.
It is also plain that totally innocent white people were being attacked - and in several instances nearly killed - purely because of the colour of their skin.
Timeline
7.30pm
A 30-40 strong group of predominantly white males enter the public bar of the Coach House on Legrams Lane. They have visited other pubs - possibly in Clayton and Lidget Green - and some appear drunk and `unsteady on their feet'. Some `banter' between these and a small number of Indians in the bar becomes heated. A racist comment from one of the white group sparks a fight which spills onto the street outside. Bystanders become drawn into the disturbance outside the pub and the scale of the violence begins to escalate.
7.50pm
A group of white men chase an Indian across the road into the Bilal pizza takeaway opposite. When he escapes through a rear exit, the windows of the shop are smashed. Asian bystanders who saw this incident may have perceived it as an attack on their community, building tensions for further confrontation.
7.59pm
The first 999 call is made from the Coach House as a number of windows are smashed at the pub.
8.10pm
The battling gangs move a short way down Legrams Lane towards Clayton Road. Members of the white group board a bus which heads back past the Coach House. Here, a group of around 30 Asians point out the `troublemakers' to small team of police officers who have arrived on the scene. They stop the bus but the men jump out of an emergency exit. The officers try to keep the two factions apart but are unable to do so. Fighting breaks out again and the white group move down towards the Second West pub, shouting and chanting on the way.
8.15pm
Another fight breaks out outside the Second West. After a few minutes, this appears to die down and the white group move away.
8.30pm
Having travelled through Beckside Road and Spencer Road, the white group arrive in Woodhead Road where they begin fighting with a predominantly Asian crowd. This violent disturbance involves between 50 and 100 people. Police attempt to halt the disorder and three people are arrested. The white group move away towards the city centre and are not involved in the violence again.
8.30pm
At the same time, the Ukrainian Club in Legrams Lane is damaged by stone-throwing gangs. One attacker `clubs' a 47-year-old in the head with a stone. An older man suffers head injuries from a hurled missile.
8.55pm
Gangs gather outside the Second West pub and attack it with stones, bricks and other missiles. While customers and staff seek shelter upstairs, some of the mob force their way into building and take cash from the till and fruit machines. The premises are badly smashed up and fires started. Missiles are thrown through upstairs windows and a number of people are injured.
9.05pm
Another crowd surround the Coach House and start hurling objects through upstairs and downstairs windows.
9.10pm
A married couple are pulled from their white Vespa scooter in Legrams Lane by an angry mob. They are beaten until crowd realised the pillion passenger is a women. Local residents come out to help the victims.
9.15pm
The Willowfield Hotel in Legrams Lane is next to come under a hail of missiles, with windows being smashed.
9.30pm
A 18-year-old Asian man suffers head injuries after being hit by a stone in Legrams Lane.
9.35pm
The Coach House pub comes under a serious `sustained attack'. Members of the mob enter the pub and cause extensive damage throughout. Members of staff and customers gather upstairs, fearing for the lives. In the car park, eight vehicles are set alight as the violence reaches a peak.
9.45pm
A 50-year-old man and his family are driving through Legrams Lane when a lump of concrete is thrown through the window of his white Fiat Bravo. The man is hit in the face, breaking his jaw.
9.45pm
Close by, a crowd surrounds a red Ford Escort, driven by a 40-year-old woman. As she turns to her daughter in the back of the car, she is hit by a missile, badly bruising her back. She manages to drive away and undergoes hospital treatment.
10.30pm
A 28-year old Asian man in Legrams Lane is injured by a flying missile.
10.45pm
A crowd gathers outside the Oddfellows pub in Legrams Lane and begin smashing the windows with bricks and stones. Staff and patrons run upstairs for cover.
10.55pm
The windows are smashed at the Lloyds Pharmacy in Legrams Lane. Members of the mob force their way in and steal stock before setting light to some of the fixtures. The flames do not take hold although serious smoke damage is caused.
11pm
Nurse Julie Cook suffers serious facial injuries when a brick is thrown through a window of her Isuzu Trooper at the junction of Horton Grange Road and Great Horton Road. She later undergoes reconstructive surgery in a bid to save the sight in her right eye.
11pm
A 62-year-old retired teacher is hit in the arm by missile which flies through the window of her car in Horton Grange Road.
Shortly after 11pm, the last pockets of the disturbance end and police restore order to Lidget Green. At least 19 people have been assaulted, 54 cars attacked and hundreds of thousands of pounds of damage caused.
Compare And Contrast III
"Many sixties leftists chose to enter the law rather than politics, precisely because they realised that these conventions were a limitless mine, into which they could dig for excuses to push through radical social change. They could never have got these measures past the electorate." - Peter Hitchens.
"I'm fascinated by politics but I've lived 26 years in politics - more than that because I've always been interested. But, you know, you can change the world through the law too and that's the path I've chosen" - Cherie Blair.
"I'm fascinated by politics but I've lived 26 years in politics - more than that because I've always been interested. But, you know, you can change the world through the law too and that's the path I've chosen" - Cherie Blair.
Cultural Imperialism
Most of the blogs I've seen think the whole 'sunbathing nurse video' Lynett Burgess story is a storm in a B cup, maybe even another example of the poor prudish Brits, still dreadfully hung up about sex and nudity.
I'd totally disgree. This case sounds to me like another English hippy incomer with all the sensitivity of a rhinoceros, not deliberately upsetting the locals - upsetting them through her sheer ignorance and thoughtlessness. Welsh-speaking culture has never been big on the right to expose yourself to your neighbour's children.
Ms Burgess should move to Bradford and see how she gets on there.
I'd totally disgree. This case sounds to me like another English hippy incomer with all the sensitivity of a rhinoceros, not deliberately upsetting the locals - upsetting them through her sheer ignorance and thoughtlessness. Welsh-speaking culture has never been big on the right to expose yourself to your neighbour's children.
Ms Burgess should move to Bradford and see how she gets on there.
A Night At The Randolph
Not one of my usual stopovers due to an extreme shortness of purse - but we were attending a function in Oxford, it was Susan's birthday, and the hotel was just down the road. The Randolph has got location, location and location. It also costs £20 to park your car !
We'd been out in the evening and wandered into the bar at around midnight to find a fair number of dinner-jacketed chaps in expansive mood, champagne and cigars much in evidence (my Guinness wasn't too outrageous, but the price of a glass of house Rioja made me decide to skip the champagne ...).
It turned out said chaps were American members (I tell a lie, some of them were Texan) of the Churchill Centre, on an eight-day pilgrimage to sites associated with the great man. They'd pretty much done the lot, from dinner at Blenheim to visiting the grave of Churchill's nanny, Mrs Everest, "that most excellent woman". So we sat and swapped Churchill quotes, lambasted the Guardian and Washington Post and generally reinforced each others prejudices in a most agreeable manner.
One of them, John David Olsen, was blogging the visit. I liked the story about Colin Powell's direct descent from Edward Longshanks.
We'd been out in the evening and wandered into the bar at around midnight to find a fair number of dinner-jacketed chaps in expansive mood, champagne and cigars much in evidence (my Guinness wasn't too outrageous, but the price of a glass of house Rioja made me decide to skip the champagne ...).
It turned out said chaps were American members (I tell a lie, some of them were Texan) of the Churchill Centre, on an eight-day pilgrimage to sites associated with the great man. They'd pretty much done the lot, from dinner at Blenheim to visiting the grave of Churchill's nanny, Mrs Everest, "that most excellent woman". So we sat and swapped Churchill quotes, lambasted the Guardian and Washington Post and generally reinforced each others prejudices in a most agreeable manner.
One of them, John David Olsen, was blogging the visit. I liked the story about Colin Powell's direct descent from Edward Longshanks.
Barry Manilow Triggered My Conversion To Islam
A shame for the Unionists, really. A few more years and Sinn Fein/IRA would have had more to worry about than the Six Counties. As I wrote last year :
"Strange times in the Irish Republic. The boom years have been on for 20-odd years now, the country's becoming much more secular, immigration and asylum levels are high, the youth/dance/drug culture is widespread - it's starting to feel much more like degenerate, decadent England. I can remember 17-odd years back seeing 'Life of Brian' in Cork just after the ban on the film had been lifted. At the time it was a big deal - it wouldn't be now. While in many ways the end of Catholic Ireland is a tragedy, it also cuts down the supply of volunteers motivated by Cathleen ni Houlihan and Our Lady Queen of Ireland. "
via the SAU blog, Jane Kelly with another cracking interview illustrating the enormous change in the Republic.
"Strange times in the Irish Republic. The boom years have been on for 20-odd years now, the country's becoming much more secular, immigration and asylum levels are high, the youth/dance/drug culture is widespread - it's starting to feel much more like degenerate, decadent England. I can remember 17-odd years back seeing 'Life of Brian' in Cork just after the ban on the film had been lifted. At the time it was a big deal - it wouldn't be now. While in many ways the end of Catholic Ireland is a tragedy, it also cuts down the supply of volunteers motivated by Cathleen ni Houlihan and Our Lady Queen of Ireland. "
via the SAU blog, Jane Kelly with another cracking interview illustrating the enormous change in the Republic.
When Imam Ibrahim stands in the centre of Galway in his voluminous robes preaching the message of Islam, his main problem comes from other Muslims. There are over a thousand of them, immigrants from Iraq, Libya, Saudi and Algeria in what was until recently a quiet Irish town. He says:
I get abuse. They call me a Kaffir or infidel and say I should die.
He represents a reformist sect which orthodox Muslims dislike, but they are also a bit suspicious as he is in fact Irish. Ibrahim began life as plain Michael Peter Noonan, in Waterford. He is the only home-grown Irish Imam on the planet so far, and his conversion is surely a sign of the strange times in which we live.
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Black Dolly, White Dolly
Sharing the main stadium box with Jeanne, Camera, and me, at my invitation, were Stan Smith, his wife Marjory, and their daughter Logan. The two little girls were happy to see one another. During Wimbledon in June, they had renewed their friendship when we all stayed near each other in London. Now Logan, seven years old, had brought Camera a present. She had come with twin dolls, one for herself, one for Camera. A thoughtful gesture on Logan's part, and on her parents' part, no doubt. The Smiths are fine, religious people.
Then I noticed that Camera was playing with her doll above the railing of the box, in full view of the attentive network television cameras. The doll was the problem; or rather, the fact that the doll was conspicuously a blonde. Camera owns dolls of all colours, nationalities, and ethnic varieties. But she was now on national television playing with a blonde doll. Suddenly I heard voices in my head, the voices of irate listeners to a call-in show on some 'black format' radio station. I imagined insistent, clamorous callers attacking Jeanne, and me:
'Can you believe the doll Arthur Ashe's daughter was holding up at the AIDS benefit? Wasn't that a shame?'
'Is that brother sick or what? Somebody ought to teach that poor child about her true black self'
'What kind of role model is Arthur Ashe if he allows his daughter to be brainwashed in that way?'
'Doesn't the brother understand that he is corrupting his child's mind with notions about the superiority of the white woman? I tell you, I thought we were long past that!'
The voices became louder in my head. Despite the low humidity, I began to squirm in my seat. What should I do? Should I say, To hell with what some people might think? I know that Camera likes her blonde dolls, black dolls, brown dolls, Asian dolls, Indian dolls just about equally; I know that for a fact, because I have watched her closely. I have searched for signs of racial partiality in her, indications that she may be dissatisfied with herself, with her own colour. I have seen none. But I cannot dismiss the voices. I try always to live practically, and I do not wish to hear such comments on the radio. On the other hand, I do not want Logan's gift to be sullied by an ungracious response. Finally, I act.
'Jeanne,' I whisper, 'we have to do something.' 'About what?' she whispers back.
'That doll. We have to get Camera to put that doll down.' Jeanne takes one look at Camera and the doll and she understands immediately. Quietly, cleverly, she makes the dolls disappear. Neither Camera nor Logan is aware of any thing unusual happening. Smoothly, Jeanne has moved them on to some other distraction.
I am unaware if Margie Smith has noticed us, but I believe I owe her an explanation and I get up and go around to her seat. Softly I tell her why the dolls have disappeared. Marge is startled, dumbfounded.
'Gosh, Arthur, I never thought about that. I never ever thought about anything like that!' 'You don't have to think about it,' I explained. 'But it happens to us, in similar situations, all the time.' 'All the time?' She is pensive now.
'All the time. It's perfectly understandable. And it certainly, is not your fault. You were doing what comes naturally. But for us, the dolls make for a bit of a problem. All for the wrong reasons. It shouldn't be this way, but it is.'
I return to my seat, but not to the elation I had felt before I saw that blonde doll in Camera's hand. I feel myself becoming more and more angry. I am angry at the force that made me act, the force of racism in all its complexity, as it spreads into the world and creates defensiveness and intolerance among the very people harmed by racism. I am also angry with myself. I am angry with myself because I have just acted out of pure practicality, not out of morality. The moral act would have been to let Camera have her fun, because she was innocent of any wrongdoing. Instead, I had tempered with her innocence, her basic human right to act impulsively, to accept a gift from a friend in the same beautiful spirit in which it was given.
Deeply embarrassed now, I am ashamed at what I have done. I have made Camera adjust her behaviour merely because of the likelihood that some people in the African American community would react to her innocence foolishly and perhaps even maliciously. I know I am not misreading the situation. I would have had telephone calls that very evening about the unsuitability of Camera's doll.
Am I being a hypocrite? Yes, definitely, up to a point. I have allowed myself to give in to those people who say we must avoid even the slightest semblance of 'Eurocentric' influence. But I also know what stands behind the entire situation. Racism ultimately created the state in which defensiveness and hypocrisy are our almost instinctive responses, and innocence and generosity are invitations to trouble.
This incident almost ruined the day for me. That night, when Jeanne and I talked about the excitement of the afternoon, and the money that would go to AIDS research and education because of the event, we nevertheless ended up talking mostly about the incident of the dolls. We also talked about perhaps its most ironic aspect. In 1954, when the Supreme Court ruled against school segregation in Brown v. Board of Education, some of the most persuasive testimony came from the psychologist Dr Kenneth Clark concerning his research on black children and their pathetic preference for white dolls over black. In 1992, the dolls are still a problem.
Once again, the shadow of race had fallen on me.
From Arthur Ashe's wonderful "Days Of Grace", a book I could quote till the cows come home. What a loss to America that man's death was. I think he should have let them play with the dolls - but then so did he, and that's why he was so angry.
Back blogging on Monday.
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Dagenham Shootings Update
Amazing. 2 people shot yesterday and it hasn't made the BBC (or any news media).
From the comments :
"Well, they were right! Front page of the 'B&D Post' this morning: "Shooting:Two left for dead"
Apparantly, the victims of the 'Chicago style shooting' (the gang used tommyguns..? Escaped in cars with running boards..?) were rushed to hospital and are serious but stable - the gang who shot them escaped. No names or descriptions.
The police's Trident team are investigating..... "
From the comments :
"Well, they were right! Front page of the 'B&D Post' this morning: "Shooting:Two left for dead"
Apparantly, the victims of the 'Chicago style shooting' (the gang used tommyguns..? Escaped in cars with running boards..?) were rushed to hospital and are serious but stable - the gang who shot them escaped. No names or descriptions.
The police's Trident team are investigating..... "
I Have A Vision Of The Future, Chum
"I'm not entirely sure it's a mark of a reactionary to be concerned about immigration's effect on social cohesion. (One reason I feel strongly at this is that my kids would be more vulnerable if things ever went badly wrong. They're already getting used to be mistaken for Muslims.)" - Clive Davis, yesterday.
"The celebrated decline of deference cuts more than one way. Society is much less gentle, more violent, than it was fifty years ago. Political allegiance is much less deep-rooted, more volatile, than it was. Our children are being taught to identify themselves as members of a particular ethnic group (my older children were given a form at school to fill in) rather than as Britons. There is enormous cynicism about politics and a culture which demands instant gratification. Ancient institutions which have served to preserve liberty over centuries have been emasculated or abolished. It's possible that given such a cultural background, national self-confidence (something we currently don't have) could take unpleasant forms.
In my worst visions my sons are on the streets, trying to stop people being attacked because of their race (and in danger of attack themselves), while in a thousand council offices ex-liberal careerists are hastily applying for the new Anglicisation Policy Co-ordinator posts ("under the Race Relations Act 2016, this post is only open to those of Anglo-Saxon cultural heritage") and the UN is wondering whether troops should be sent in." - this blog, March 2004.
"British citizenship has been granted to nearly one million foreign nationals since Labour came to power in 1997, official figures showed yesterday.
A record 161,000 obtained a UK passport last year, a 15 per cent increase on 2004, and a further 214,000 lodged applications that are now being processed. Similar numbers are likely to have applied this year, on top of 750,000 new citizens already created in the previous eight years.
The Home Office said the 64 per cent increase in applications for 2005 was mainly due to people submitting their papers before the introduction of the new "Britishness" test last November.
The rate of overseas settlement in Britain is now the highest ever and is four times greater than in the mid-1990s - reflecting unprecedented levels of immigration.
In the late 1960s, about 75,000 new citizens a year were accepted for citizenship but this fell to about 50,000 after new laws were introduced in 1971.
For about 25 years the annual figure remained near or below this level, falling to a low point of 37,000 in 1997, the year Labour took office. Since then, there has been a spectacular increase, with the rate of growth accelerating every year.
The scale of new settlements is a principal driver behind the increase in Britain's population, which is expected to grow by five million by 2020 while birth rates fall in other countries.
The Government has said there is no limit to the numbers who can come to this country ..."
Graphic - Daily Telegraph.
The Future ? Fiji - if we're lucky.
"The celebrated decline of deference cuts more than one way. Society is much less gentle, more violent, than it was fifty years ago. Political allegiance is much less deep-rooted, more volatile, than it was. Our children are being taught to identify themselves as members of a particular ethnic group (my older children were given a form at school to fill in) rather than as Britons. There is enormous cynicism about politics and a culture which demands instant gratification. Ancient institutions which have served to preserve liberty over centuries have been emasculated or abolished. It's possible that given such a cultural background, national self-confidence (something we currently don't have) could take unpleasant forms.
In my worst visions my sons are on the streets, trying to stop people being attacked because of their race (and in danger of attack themselves), while in a thousand council offices ex-liberal careerists are hastily applying for the new Anglicisation Policy Co-ordinator posts ("under the Race Relations Act 2016, this post is only open to those of Anglo-Saxon cultural heritage") and the UN is wondering whether troops should be sent in." - this blog, March 2004.
"British citizenship has been granted to nearly one million foreign nationals since Labour came to power in 1997, official figures showed yesterday.
A record 161,000 obtained a UK passport last year, a 15 per cent increase on 2004, and a further 214,000 lodged applications that are now being processed. Similar numbers are likely to have applied this year, on top of 750,000 new citizens already created in the previous eight years.
The Home Office said the 64 per cent increase in applications for 2005 was mainly due to people submitting their papers before the introduction of the new "Britishness" test last November.
The rate of overseas settlement in Britain is now the highest ever and is four times greater than in the mid-1990s - reflecting unprecedented levels of immigration.
In the late 1960s, about 75,000 new citizens a year were accepted for citizenship but this fell to about 50,000 after new laws were introduced in 1971.
For about 25 years the annual figure remained near or below this level, falling to a low point of 37,000 in 1997, the year Labour took office. Since then, there has been a spectacular increase, with the rate of growth accelerating every year.
The scale of new settlements is a principal driver behind the increase in Britain's population, which is expected to grow by five million by 2020 while birth rates fall in other countries.
The Government has said there is no limit to the numbers who can come to this country ..."
Graphic - Daily Telegraph.The Future ? Fiji - if we're lucky.
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