Hello,
Good Lord as if we didn't have enough anti-social beer monsters cluttering up the place and getting on everyone's wick I am informed that we in Glasgow (why us?) are due a visit from the English Defence League in November. Wow! I can just see that bringing all colours and creeds together in a rousing round of 'Roll Out the Barrel'.
Apparently they pop up wherever they feel Islamic extremism is eroding their way of life. Bloody hell 'feel' , have they all been watching Oprah or something? I strongly suspect the only thing they feel is the urge to clobber some unpopular minority judging from their recent conduct. Quite how the Muslim extremists of Glasgow have managed to erode the English way of life has not been explained. More to the point whilst there are Muslims in Glasgow with some very dodgy ideas about this world and the next, they are in my experience a minority.
A minority that I have to say don't erode my way of life at all. Other than in airports, which in fairness were disgusting to begin with. Horrid places. Stand up, sit down, wait to be called get in line, stupid questions and festooned all over with little swastikas barking at you not to smoke, mind the hot tap, stand to the left, stand to the right and declare your nuclear bombs all the while minding the slippy floor. As far as I can tell all the mentalist wing of Islam has added to that horror is causing a flap about shoes and liquids at customs.
Anyway as I say the EDL 'feel' that their English way of life is being eroded. Not by their complete lack of interest in anything approaching English culture, unless looking like Phil Mitchell with foetal alcohol syndrome counts as uniquely English, but by the Muslims. This is a puzzle to me. I asked my brother who has been living in England for the last decade or so what it was the Muslims were preventing the English from doing and he was similarly baffled. Perhaps the Muslim influence hasn't reached London yet.
Still the question remains how does one deal with a visit from a group so odious even the leadership of the repellent BNP want nothing to do with them, not that it deters the lower ranking scum from dual membership. The previous tactic seems to have been to bellow at them and meet violence with violence. It is both tempting and understandable to feel violent when faced with sub normal baldy aggro merchants which is why I shall be unsurprised but very disappointed if so much as eyebrow is raised at them.
Instead I'm proposing a mass peaceful 'British In' to disrupt the fuckers. Essentially it's a mass fancy dress with a bit of optional role playing. To take part all one has to do is dress up as any character from British/Scottish history or literature and refuse to move out the way of their stomp or respond to anything they do. Ideally it would be women only but one hates to deter the chaps from protesting against wankers so I'm willing to allow the chaps on board.
The reason I'd prefer a women only protest is simply because of how awful they'll look threatening and beating up a load of women. Still needs must so let's imagine how absurd an English Defence League would look kicking St George's head in or their bastard offspring The Scottish Defence League would seem kicking fuck out of William Wallace. Whoever one dresses up as doesn't have to be one's personal hero or heroine just someone the morons cannot wallop without looking like utter fools and of course the thugs they are. Come on imagine an Asian Muslim Winston Churchill making their heads explode. It'd be the all time hoot. I'm either going as the Queen, Britannia or Robert Burns -it depends on my thighs at the time. Burns wore awfully tight breeches. The naughty fox.
I don't normally go around organising things like this but I'm not having good weegie Muslims monstered in this fashion or this whole debacle descend into a fight. That said we can't just ignore it as they'll only get bigger and worse until it's too late to be anything other than violent.
If we can keep this entirely peaceful on our side we'll win. The moral high ground is ours for the taking. It might just be my cynical mind but an organisation made up of football hooligans wants a fight. I see no reason for divisive violence merchants to be handed what they want.
That's my party piece. Anyone who wants to join me on a counter demonstration can email me for further details.
Cheerio
Showing posts with label scum. Show all posts
Showing posts with label scum. Show all posts
9/20/2009
6/29/2009
Down With the Botherers.
Hello,
Has a festival of slow witted intolerance commenced without me being informed this year? I merely ask because our local knuckledraggers seem to have been rather vocal of late.
On Saturday we had our Republican and Orange chums beg the question who should be put up against a wall and shot first and leave me scratching my head. I am of course referring to the Armed Forces Day debacle on Saturday. It could and should have been a perfectly ordinary, straightforward military service. Instead we have in the Orange corner we have soap dodgers mooing witlessly at the Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy not because he's a useless careerist little nit but because he's a Catholic. Not to be outdone the Green corner mooed witlessly at the army for being British in Britain, motivated no doubt by a desire to provoke the Orangers to attack so they can go up the road whining about British persecution.
Would it be asking too much of both sides to reflect on the tolerance shown to them during their repellent marches by the appalled, inconvenienced and intimidated public and consider returning the favour once in a while? It's not like the rest of us don't want to chop them into little pieces before hurling them into remote landfill sites it's just that we were born and brought up as opposed to shat out and dragged down which helps with restraint. Do not even start me on their post Old Firm match antics which prove beyond all reasonable doubt that both evolution and intelligent design are bunk. Someone should organise a literacy campaign as a matter of urgency.
Moving on the owner of The Pakistani Cafe has taken the unusual step of rolling up to work in a stab proof vest owing to a collection of sub normal halwifts taking exception to his cafe. I must declare an interest here in that I'm a big fan of The Pakistani, the food is fantastic, the prices are dirt cheap and it's a nice, relaxed place to while away an hour with the paper and a cup of chai.
Reading the report in the record the trouble appears to have started when a customer took exception to the presence of a book by Salman Rushdie amongst the reading material provided for customers. I must confess I prefer a bit of P.G Wodehouse myself, if I were the customer I'd just have ignored the books I didn't like and made do with Chat or Women's Realm rather than kicking up a stupid fuss over nothing.
Anyway it all seems to have got out of hand and now the youths have got the hump because the cafe owner plays a bit of music and serves alcohol which, unless the Taliban have been elected behind my back is perfectly acceptable in these parts. To my mind it's way more acceptable than this latter day bunch of Carry Nation's threatening to petrol bomb the cafe, smashing windows and sticking their beaks into other folks business. Who appointed these wankers as the south side's moral guardians? They can't be allowed to get the upper hand, let them win once and before we know it no-one will be allowed to do anything except break windows and hurl petrol bombs if their disgraceful conduct is anything to go by.
Still every cloud has a silver lining, it's not often one gets to stand up to the scum of the earth, show a bit of solidarity with a man in trouble whilst eating like a king on a beggars wages. To that end I recommend everyone make a point of dropping into The Pakistani Cafe for a cup of chai and a bite to eat as often as they possibly can not only to thwart the puritans but because it's a bloody fine establishment and I don't want our Mr Sharif drowning in a sea of stupidity.
Cheerio
P.S The Karachi omelette is a triumph.
Has a festival of slow witted intolerance commenced without me being informed this year? I merely ask because our local knuckledraggers seem to have been rather vocal of late.
On Saturday we had our Republican and Orange chums beg the question who should be put up against a wall and shot first and leave me scratching my head. I am of course referring to the Armed Forces Day debacle on Saturday. It could and should have been a perfectly ordinary, straightforward military service. Instead we have in the Orange corner we have soap dodgers mooing witlessly at the Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy not because he's a useless careerist little nit but because he's a Catholic. Not to be outdone the Green corner mooed witlessly at the army for being British in Britain, motivated no doubt by a desire to provoke the Orangers to attack so they can go up the road whining about British persecution.
Would it be asking too much of both sides to reflect on the tolerance shown to them during their repellent marches by the appalled, inconvenienced and intimidated public and consider returning the favour once in a while? It's not like the rest of us don't want to chop them into little pieces before hurling them into remote landfill sites it's just that we were born and brought up as opposed to shat out and dragged down which helps with restraint. Do not even start me on their post Old Firm match antics which prove beyond all reasonable doubt that both evolution and intelligent design are bunk. Someone should organise a literacy campaign as a matter of urgency.
Moving on the owner of The Pakistani Cafe has taken the unusual step of rolling up to work in a stab proof vest owing to a collection of sub normal halwifts taking exception to his cafe. I must declare an interest here in that I'm a big fan of The Pakistani, the food is fantastic, the prices are dirt cheap and it's a nice, relaxed place to while away an hour with the paper and a cup of chai.
Reading the report in the record the trouble appears to have started when a customer took exception to the presence of a book by Salman Rushdie amongst the reading material provided for customers. I must confess I prefer a bit of P.G Wodehouse myself, if I were the customer I'd just have ignored the books I didn't like and made do with Chat or Women's Realm rather than kicking up a stupid fuss over nothing.
Anyway it all seems to have got out of hand and now the youths have got the hump because the cafe owner plays a bit of music and serves alcohol which, unless the Taliban have been elected behind my back is perfectly acceptable in these parts. To my mind it's way more acceptable than this latter day bunch of Carry Nation's threatening to petrol bomb the cafe, smashing windows and sticking their beaks into other folks business. Who appointed these wankers as the south side's moral guardians? They can't be allowed to get the upper hand, let them win once and before we know it no-one will be allowed to do anything except break windows and hurl petrol bombs if their disgraceful conduct is anything to go by.
Still every cloud has a silver lining, it's not often one gets to stand up to the scum of the earth, show a bit of solidarity with a man in trouble whilst eating like a king on a beggars wages. To that end I recommend everyone make a point of dropping into The Pakistani Cafe for a cup of chai and a bite to eat as often as they possibly can not only to thwart the puritans but because it's a bloody fine establishment and I don't want our Mr Sharif drowning in a sea of stupidity.
Cheerio
P.S The Karachi omelette is a triumph.
6/12/2009
Madness, Racists, BNP
Hello,
As you might be aware two racist MEPs were elected to the European Parliament last week. You certainly will be aware if you read Comment is Free -they're obsessed. For me it reached the stage where if I couldn't see a new BNP article I felt unsettled, like I'd put my pants on back to front but not realised the cause of my unease until I was at the bus stop on my way to work.
Anyway on the plus side it has provided an opportunity for the Guardian reading BNP members to put across their point of view. Truly the world has gone mad! Guardian reading BNP voters. I can scarcely credit it myself but there it is. If you struggle to imagine such a creature, chippy call centre manager on a race rant about sums it up.
Truly they are a strange breed. If you ask the perfectly reasonable question is the BNP racist? they start waving the Black Police Association around like it's a talisman to ward off enquiring liberal spirits. I refrain from commenting on CIF for fear of getting any more drawn into to it but I must confess the BNP can't be racist because the Black Police Association is racist line of argument did tempt me to intervene. To me it's perfectly simple, of course the Black Police Association is racist. For heaven's sake the name alone is a dead giveaway. The members are police officers, of course they're racists.
Mind you I'm baffled by the BNP belief that the answer to the question is the BNP racist depends on whether or not some black police officers are racist. Has a racism quota been introduced behind my back? We may be a small island but surely there must be room for the BNP and the BPA to be racist at the same time. Bloody hell! We are in a sorry state if even our professional racists can't live together harmoniously. Still perhaps the problem between our warring racists arises from the fact that the BPA allows any police officer from any ethnic background to join whereas the BNP's constitution forbids anyone who isn't white joining. There vis also the small but important point that the BPA do not demand removal of rights for whites. In contrast the BNP believe in rights for whites and whites alone in common with every other white racist on the planet. In other words the BNP is racist whereas the BPA do not have racist agenda.
If the racist BNP fans aren't waving the BPA in the air, they're complaining that no one wants to debate their policies. Naturally this provokes someone to read their manifesto and try to debate them on policy only for them to act like their maiden aunt has farted with what Kenneth Williams once described, as alarming ferocity, during a lull in conversation as they frantically try to change the subject, lest anyone should be coarse enough to mention auntie's dirty interjection.
It's terribly unfair. I'd love to debate many BNP policies but they won't answer a single question I ask. It's not just me other's have questioned them on their manifesto pledges and they can't answer. Look at this CIF thread and work your way forward. Even articulate, intelligent BNP supporters can't answer reasonable questions, answers to which would trip off the tongue of any normal party loyalist. It's tempting to assert they can't answer because they're stupid but I rather fancy it's because they are the racist totalitarians we always knew they were. They really are too dishonest and cowardly to stand for election on their true principles. I'm sorry but not even that pathetic left-right mish mash of a manifesto convinces me that they're anything other than lunatic racists who'd happily wreck the economy and every other institution in this nation in pursuit of a white UK. Whatever your views on immigration levels that is something we could all do without.
Cheerio
As you might be aware two racist MEPs were elected to the European Parliament last week. You certainly will be aware if you read Comment is Free -they're obsessed. For me it reached the stage where if I couldn't see a new BNP article I felt unsettled, like I'd put my pants on back to front but not realised the cause of my unease until I was at the bus stop on my way to work.
Anyway on the plus side it has provided an opportunity for the Guardian reading BNP members to put across their point of view. Truly the world has gone mad! Guardian reading BNP voters. I can scarcely credit it myself but there it is. If you struggle to imagine such a creature, chippy call centre manager on a race rant about sums it up.
Truly they are a strange breed. If you ask the perfectly reasonable question is the BNP racist? they start waving the Black Police Association around like it's a talisman to ward off enquiring liberal spirits. I refrain from commenting on CIF for fear of getting any more drawn into to it but I must confess the BNP can't be racist because the Black Police Association is racist line of argument did tempt me to intervene. To me it's perfectly simple, of course the Black Police Association is racist. For heaven's sake the name alone is a dead giveaway. The members are police officers, of course they're racists.
Mind you I'm baffled by the BNP belief that the answer to the question is the BNP racist depends on whether or not some black police officers are racist. Has a racism quota been introduced behind my back? We may be a small island but surely there must be room for the BNP and the BPA to be racist at the same time. Bloody hell! We are in a sorry state if even our professional racists can't live together harmoniously. Still perhaps the problem between our warring racists arises from the fact that the BPA allows any police officer from any ethnic background to join whereas the BNP's constitution forbids anyone who isn't white joining. There vis also the small but important point that the BPA do not demand removal of rights for whites. In contrast the BNP believe in rights for whites and whites alone in common with every other white racist on the planet. In other words the BNP is racist whereas the BPA do not have racist agenda.
If the racist BNP fans aren't waving the BPA in the air, they're complaining that no one wants to debate their policies. Naturally this provokes someone to read their manifesto and try to debate them on policy only for them to act like their maiden aunt has farted with what Kenneth Williams once described, as alarming ferocity, during a lull in conversation as they frantically try to change the subject, lest anyone should be coarse enough to mention auntie's dirty interjection.
It's terribly unfair. I'd love to debate many BNP policies but they won't answer a single question I ask. It's not just me other's have questioned them on their manifesto pledges and they can't answer. Look at this CIF thread and work your way forward. Even articulate, intelligent BNP supporters can't answer reasonable questions, answers to which would trip off the tongue of any normal party loyalist. It's tempting to assert they can't answer because they're stupid but I rather fancy it's because they are the racist totalitarians we always knew they were. They really are too dishonest and cowardly to stand for election on their true principles. I'm sorry but not even that pathetic left-right mish mash of a manifesto convinces me that they're anything other than lunatic racists who'd happily wreck the economy and every other institution in this nation in pursuit of a white UK. Whatever your views on immigration levels that is something we could all do without.
Cheerio
6/05/2009
Window Dressing Gone Wrong!
Hello,
I see someone else has fled the cabinet, no doubt by the time I complete this post someone else will be jumping ship. I am troubled by the departure of Caroline Flint, though because it put's me in the position of siding with Brown.
Ms Flint reckons that Gordon Brown has treated her as 'female window dressing'. I don't like to defend sexism or tokenism of that sort but in all seriousness what else was he meant to do with her? Let's face it she's easy on the eye but based her performance to date has hardly set the heather alight. Anyway why is ok for her to do a bit of modelling in the Sunday papers, when a male politician would be a laughing stock if he did likewise? She can hardly moan about being treated like eye candy if that's how she chooses to present herself.
It's also something of a worry that it took her so long to notice she was being treated as 'window dressing'. Only last month she was telling The Observer that she hadn't experienced any sexism in politics since being elected in 1997. Either Brown had one of his hitherto unknown 'window dressing' fits a fortnight a go or Ms Flint is one dim bint. Odder still last night she claimed she was staying in government because she was 'very proud to be a part of Gordon Brown's government'.
Today she announced she was giving up flicking through Grazia magazine behind a desk or whatever it is she's being doing since 1997. I'm sure it is mere coincidence that this happened after Brown failed to offer her a full cabinet role. Good God that whiny ten year old on Britain's Got Talent showed more dignity in the face of disappointment.
I've no doubt being female in that den of overgrown schoolboys is a trial at times. It wouldn't surprise me at all to hear female MPs are discriminated against. What a shame the 'Blair Babes' were ever mooted as an answer -a gaggle of girlies so witless I change sex just looking at them such is my desire to escape from any club they're members of.
I just hope the female electorate in Ms Flints constituency will remember her cynical use of feminism for her own careerist ends come the general election. I'm sure the job centre will appreciate a bit of fortnightly window dressing.
I'm no fan of Brown and hsave never voted Labour in my puff, nor can I forsee any circumstances when I will but having seen the poor quality of the Labour rebels, I rather unexpectedly find myself feeling rather sorry for Brown. I would have thought he deserved at least a measure of loyalty for allowing these mediocrities to remain in high office. Instead he finds himself stabbed in the back by people far worse than he's ever been. I'd have more respect for them if they'd done something constructive to improve things or stuck with the trainwreck to the bitter end because every last one of them is complicit. They've had ample opportunity to get rid of Brown, yet only acted when they were in the shit over expenses or denied a promotion. That speaks volumes. Brown's alright when he's feathering their nests no matter what he does to the electorate. What a repulsive bunch of chancers.
Cheerio
5/13/2009
MPs Expenses
Hello,
In many ways MPs expenses have been worth every penny, I haven't laughed so much in years.
Oh come on a male MP buying tampons, nappies and women's clothes, or some toff scamming repairs to his tennis court and moat cleaning! How exactly does one go about cleaning a moat or more to the point being posh enough to have one? Then of course I remembered I and my other chums the tax payers were footing the bill and that I've still not received the tax rebate I'm due.
Growing up with the standard left wing West of Scotland upbringing I was I suppose natural Labour territory but living in close proximity to the horror of Glasgow City Council put paid to any illusions I may have had about their integrity. Ah yes I remember it well Pat Lally's repellent nephew boasting about being dropped off at school in the provosts limo. All the same I naively thought Labour corruption was a 'Glasgow problem' caused by a sheep like Tory phobic electorate who would rather vote for a rotting corpse in a red rosette than in their own interests.
Similarly I believed the Tory corruption, that became apparent in the last days of the Major government was a result, not of any inherent dishonesty in the Tory party but the inevitable result of being in power too long.
I daresay there is a degree of truth in that. Long running administrations of any stripe are bound to be attractive to opportunists on the make but I think this latest round of expenses scandals reveals something far more rotten and disturbing. No party is spared, not one. These people really are a class apart -who or what on earth gave them the idea that they were entitled to live lives so far removed from the rest of us at our expense? The frightening thing is I think some of them honestly believe that tennis court repairs and the like are essential for them to carry out their jobs, in other words there's no point serving the public or pretending to unless you are allowed to live like a king on the back of it.
Worse than the claims themselves is the 'it was within the rules, it's not me it's the system'. I must suggest that to one of my clients as a possible defence if they happen to spot a loophole in the benefit rules. I'm quite certain that both the DWP and police will be entirely sympathetic. For heaven's sake people refrain from doing all sorts of perfectly legal things because they think it is immoral to do so. If these clowns can't tell the difference between something being legal and being compulsory then can I suggest they find something more suited to their abilities like competitive mouth breathing. You notice that despite being the very folk with the power to reform the system none of them felt so strongly that they raised the matter in parliament with a view to any sort of reform. One can only imagine their howls of outrage at the awful system as they looked at their bank statements and watched the money roll in.
Then there is the flipping scam -no wonder they didn't want to restore any level of sanity to the housing market -the bastards were coining it in! I wonder if any of them as they played their part putting homes out of the reach of key workers and first time buyers ever felt a single seconds guilt. Did those representing less affluent constituencies and reading their post bag containing various tales of housing hell from people better than they'll ever be not reflect for a moment that what they were doing was wrong? Marie Antoinette was beheaded for less.
Being ripped off is bad enough but readers of The Guardian and The Telegraph were treated to that despicable little dirtbag MacShane insulting their intelligence with his assertion that if they don't vote Labour or for one of the big parties then the BNP will get in. In other words you can't risk a protest vote without getting something worse so keep eating shit peasants. Of course if he and his corrupt pals weren't such a bunch of grasping low lifes they might be able to point out a few faults with the BNP but instead they've left themselves in no position to point fingers at anyone. Quite frankly Labour have run a better campaign for the BNP then anything that shower could manage. Still you'd almost think the BNP were the only party standing the way he's carrying on but of course two minutes on google provides you with a world of choice in finding a home for your cheeky protest without your 'racial foreigner' chums thinking you want to send them back. To save you the hassle I will provide a handy list below.
Cheerio
Scotland- Green, SNP, SSP, NO2EU, Socialist Labour Party, Christian Party Christian Peoples Alliance, Jury Team, UKIP and Duncan Robertson (Independent).
Northern Ireland -No candidates from any of the big three your choices are here.
Wales- Green, Plaid Cymru, NO2EU, Jury Team, UKIP, Christian Party Christian Peoples Alliance and Socialist Labour Party.
England (By Region)
North East - Green, NO2EU, Jury Team, UKIP, English Democrats, Christian Party Christian Peoples Alliance, Socialist Labour Party and Libertas.
Yorkshire and the Humber - See above
West Midlands -See above
East Midlands -See above
North West -As previous but with a lone independent Francis Apaloo
East of England- As previous but the independent candidate is Peter Rigby and Animals Count are also standing.
South West- As previous but Mebyon Kernow, Pensioners Party and Your Decision are also standing.
South East- As previous but The Peace Party and The Roman Party are standing.
London- As previous but with Gene Alcatara, Steven Cheung, Jan Jananayagam, Sohale Rahman and Haroon Saad standing as independents and Yes to Europe also standing.
In many ways MPs expenses have been worth every penny, I haven't laughed so much in years.
Oh come on a male MP buying tampons, nappies and women's clothes, or some toff scamming repairs to his tennis court and moat cleaning! How exactly does one go about cleaning a moat or more to the point being posh enough to have one? Then of course I remembered I and my other chums the tax payers were footing the bill and that I've still not received the tax rebate I'm due.
Growing up with the standard left wing West of Scotland upbringing I was I suppose natural Labour territory but living in close proximity to the horror of Glasgow City Council put paid to any illusions I may have had about their integrity. Ah yes I remember it well Pat Lally's repellent nephew boasting about being dropped off at school in the provosts limo. All the same I naively thought Labour corruption was a 'Glasgow problem' caused by a sheep like Tory phobic electorate who would rather vote for a rotting corpse in a red rosette than in their own interests.
Similarly I believed the Tory corruption, that became apparent in the last days of the Major government was a result, not of any inherent dishonesty in the Tory party but the inevitable result of being in power too long.
I daresay there is a degree of truth in that. Long running administrations of any stripe are bound to be attractive to opportunists on the make but I think this latest round of expenses scandals reveals something far more rotten and disturbing. No party is spared, not one. These people really are a class apart -who or what on earth gave them the idea that they were entitled to live lives so far removed from the rest of us at our expense? The frightening thing is I think some of them honestly believe that tennis court repairs and the like are essential for them to carry out their jobs, in other words there's no point serving the public or pretending to unless you are allowed to live like a king on the back of it.
Worse than the claims themselves is the 'it was within the rules, it's not me it's the system'. I must suggest that to one of my clients as a possible defence if they happen to spot a loophole in the benefit rules. I'm quite certain that both the DWP and police will be entirely sympathetic. For heaven's sake people refrain from doing all sorts of perfectly legal things because they think it is immoral to do so. If these clowns can't tell the difference between something being legal and being compulsory then can I suggest they find something more suited to their abilities like competitive mouth breathing. You notice that despite being the very folk with the power to reform the system none of them felt so strongly that they raised the matter in parliament with a view to any sort of reform. One can only imagine their howls of outrage at the awful system as they looked at their bank statements and watched the money roll in.
Then there is the flipping scam -no wonder they didn't want to restore any level of sanity to the housing market -the bastards were coining it in! I wonder if any of them as they played their part putting homes out of the reach of key workers and first time buyers ever felt a single seconds guilt. Did those representing less affluent constituencies and reading their post bag containing various tales of housing hell from people better than they'll ever be not reflect for a moment that what they were doing was wrong? Marie Antoinette was beheaded for less.
Being ripped off is bad enough but readers of The Guardian and The Telegraph were treated to that despicable little dirtbag MacShane insulting their intelligence with his assertion that if they don't vote Labour or for one of the big parties then the BNP will get in. In other words you can't risk a protest vote without getting something worse so keep eating shit peasants. Of course if he and his corrupt pals weren't such a bunch of grasping low lifes they might be able to point out a few faults with the BNP but instead they've left themselves in no position to point fingers at anyone. Quite frankly Labour have run a better campaign for the BNP then anything that shower could manage. Still you'd almost think the BNP were the only party standing the way he's carrying on but of course two minutes on google provides you with a world of choice in finding a home for your cheeky protest without your 'racial foreigner' chums thinking you want to send them back. To save you the hassle I will provide a handy list below.
Cheerio
Scotland- Green, SNP, SSP, NO2EU, Socialist Labour Party, Christian Party Christian Peoples Alliance, Jury Team, UKIP and Duncan Robertson (Independent).
Northern Ireland -No candidates from any of the big three your choices are here.
Wales- Green, Plaid Cymru, NO2EU, Jury Team, UKIP, Christian Party Christian Peoples Alliance and Socialist Labour Party.
England (By Region)
North East - Green, NO2EU, Jury Team, UKIP, English Democrats, Christian Party Christian Peoples Alliance, Socialist Labour Party and Libertas.
Yorkshire and the Humber - See above
West Midlands -See above
East Midlands -See above
North West -As previous but with a lone independent Francis Apaloo
East of England- As previous but the independent candidate is Peter Rigby and Animals Count are also standing.
South West- As previous but Mebyon Kernow, Pensioners Party and Your Decision are also standing.
South East- As previous but The Peace Party and The Roman Party are standing.
London- As previous but with Gene Alcatara, Steven Cheung, Jan Jananayagam, Sohale Rahman and Haroon Saad standing as independents and Yes to Europe also standing.
4/15/2009
Benefit Scrounging Scum!
Hello,
Is there nothing an MP wouldn't claim on expenses? Is there no point where they think they might be able to manage to buy something out of their wages?
I merely ask because the loathsome James Purnell has been claiming £400 per month, roughly double what an unemployed 20 year old get's a month with with to buy food, pay their utility bills, water and sewerage charge, clothe themselves and travel to and from job interviews. He was trying to claim £475 per month but apparently that breaks the rules. Thank God there are some rules otherwise the claims of these scrounging scumbags would run into billions.
However our generosity to scrounger James does not end there, we the tax payer also splashed out £145,000 since 2001 to pay for cleaning (!!!!), utility bills and his second home in Islington. No doubt James reckons all these are essential costs.
The thing is all the people that Jamesey would cross the road to avoid, that he's happily tossing off Employment and Support Allowance regard their double figure pittance as essential, whilst James regards it as an incentive to be idle. I'm sure James is right -they couldn't possibly be paying a buffoon all that money could they? So with that in mind I suggest a national whipround to pay James the sum of £64:50 per week from now until he retires on the strict condition he stays out of the workplace, lest he cause any further damage to the country.
Before we pay James off though I'd be delighted if he'd pop in to my workplace and help us out with a couple of benefit gluttons we've been dealing with because we're having a bit of trouble. First up is a fellow, also called James, a lovely man, very polite, reeks of piss, wears a dressing gown as an overcoat, can't go anywhere without his mother, talks about his cat all the time and would like to join the police force. For some reason employers seem to be reluctant to employ him. I'd love Jamesey to tell us where we've gone wrong and identify exactly what sort of work this man is fit for because his department declared him fit for work despite him suffering a wee touch of Paranoid Schizophrenia. He scored zero points on the Incapacity Benefit Descriptors. If you've ever wondered what a benefit medical is like -this is a pretty good description. Very unfortunate but we simply must protect the public purse from scroungers.
Another chap I'd like to find work for is a charming, personable, clean young fellow who's hit hard times. He's twenty-three years old and was made redundant in October last year but got temporary Christmas work in November before being paid off again in January. He's applied for ninety-three jobs since December 2008, attended twelve interviews since January and doesn't seem to be having much luck. His weekly income is £50:75 from which he pays £5.00 per week towards water and sewerage, £ 10.00 per week to electricity, £7.00 per week to gas , £8.00 per week rent, £5.00 per week to his pay as you go mobile and the rest to food, housekeeping, clothing, travelling to interviews and stamps. Still with incentives like £50:75 per week is at any wonder he's not working? Perhaps James could set him to the righteous path of toil.
When Labour came to power unemployment was just short of two million. It is now much the same despite the 'New Deal', Tax Credits and various other carrots and sticks to prevent idleness being introduced over the years. Is it possible that unemployment might be influenced by something outwith the claimants control? Or are we just too generous to incompetent ministers who, when presented with an expenses claim form do nothing but take this piss? Perhaps it's time the benefit system was looked at by people who don't labour under the misapprehension that we're all as low as they are.
Cheerio
Is there nothing an MP wouldn't claim on expenses? Is there no point where they think they might be able to manage to buy something out of their wages?
I merely ask because the loathsome James Purnell has been claiming £400 per month, roughly double what an unemployed 20 year old get's a month with with to buy food, pay their utility bills, water and sewerage charge, clothe themselves and travel to and from job interviews. He was trying to claim £475 per month but apparently that breaks the rules. Thank God there are some rules otherwise the claims of these scrounging scumbags would run into billions.
However our generosity to scrounger James does not end there, we the tax payer also splashed out £145,000 since 2001 to pay for cleaning (!!!!), utility bills and his second home in Islington. No doubt James reckons all these are essential costs.
The thing is all the people that Jamesey would cross the road to avoid, that he's happily tossing off Employment and Support Allowance regard their double figure pittance as essential, whilst James regards it as an incentive to be idle. I'm sure James is right -they couldn't possibly be paying a buffoon all that money could they? So with that in mind I suggest a national whipround to pay James the sum of £64:50 per week from now until he retires on the strict condition he stays out of the workplace, lest he cause any further damage to the country.
Before we pay James off though I'd be delighted if he'd pop in to my workplace and help us out with a couple of benefit gluttons we've been dealing with because we're having a bit of trouble. First up is a fellow, also called James, a lovely man, very polite, reeks of piss, wears a dressing gown as an overcoat, can't go anywhere without his mother, talks about his cat all the time and would like to join the police force. For some reason employers seem to be reluctant to employ him. I'd love Jamesey to tell us where we've gone wrong and identify exactly what sort of work this man is fit for because his department declared him fit for work despite him suffering a wee touch of Paranoid Schizophrenia. He scored zero points on the Incapacity Benefit Descriptors. If you've ever wondered what a benefit medical is like -this is a pretty good description. Very unfortunate but we simply must protect the public purse from scroungers.
Another chap I'd like to find work for is a charming, personable, clean young fellow who's hit hard times. He's twenty-three years old and was made redundant in October last year but got temporary Christmas work in November before being paid off again in January. He's applied for ninety-three jobs since December 2008, attended twelve interviews since January and doesn't seem to be having much luck. His weekly income is £50:75 from which he pays £5.00 per week towards water and sewerage, £ 10.00 per week to electricity, £7.00 per week to gas , £8.00 per week rent, £5.00 per week to his pay as you go mobile and the rest to food, housekeeping, clothing, travelling to interviews and stamps. Still with incentives like £50:75 per week is at any wonder he's not working? Perhaps James could set him to the righteous path of toil.
When Labour came to power unemployment was just short of two million. It is now much the same despite the 'New Deal', Tax Credits and various other carrots and sticks to prevent idleness being introduced over the years. Is it possible that unemployment might be influenced by something outwith the claimants control? Or are we just too generous to incompetent ministers who, when presented with an expenses claim form do nothing but take this piss? Perhaps it's time the benefit system was looked at by people who don't labour under the misapprehension that we're all as low as they are.
Cheerio
2/01/2009
God I Loathe Thieves!
Hello,
The clue is in the title. Not for the first time I and my fellow Guerrilla Gardeners are victims of crime. Some bastard has been nicking the plants we've put out on our formerly neglected patch for the benefit of everyone who passes by.
The Ill Man and I spent a good portion of Saturday evening trying to crack the case. I've been watching The Bill for years so I'm pretty knowledgeable about detective work. We're both agreed that a local is not responsible and suspect an incoming worker. Their habit of half inching two plants at a time suggests someone on foot. I believe it is one of the teachers at the local primary school, though The Ill Man suspects prejudice has led me to this conclusion. I'm half hoping it is a teacher and that I catch them in the act and can at last take terrible revenge against that wicked shower of child stunters. However other possibilities include the nearby church, colleges and university or the industrial estate.
Naturally, after exchanging theories, talk then turned to how we shall punish the scum responsible. I favoured stripping them naked, burning all their clothes and money and chasing them onto the main road whereas The Ill Man felt that holding them down and forcing them to piss themselves would be a better punishment.
My feeling is that we are not up against the usual member of the criminal classes. A proper criminal thief would make off with entire borders in one go and I don't think Glasgow is the best place to flog nicked outdoor plants as the majority of property is tenemental. No this swine is selfishly stealing public plants for their own private garden whilst no doubt convincing themselves it is a victimless crime, a minor bit of naughtiness that upsets no one. Hah! When I get my hands on them they'll rue the day they made that mistake.
My great Granny was prosecuted for beating up a marine and some other relative crushed a man's hand in a car door for looking at his car. As a family we do not make good victims. I might not be as violent as my fearsome ancestors but what I lack in muscle I make up for in inventive spite. I won't be happy until the person responsible dies of shame, has a breakdown or pays very generous compo and apologises in a grovelling fashion. Whatever comes first.
For anyone shaking their heads at my harshness or that this evidence of the wickedness of modern society, let me direct you to the following Guardian articles. This article shows that garden theft is not a new problem, though it was at least punishable by transportation. This one amply demonstrates that the liberalism of the Guardian reader does not extend to the garden. Truly they're only a lupin theft away from changing their order at the newsagent to the Daily Mail.
Why can't we bring the stocks back? I think they're a wonderful idea. Imagine the joy of hurling rotten food at a petty criminal -that's the sort of thing that brings communities together. Obviously I wouldn't condone hurling hard objects at them. What if a bad throw harmed the mob? But where's the harm in hurling a bit of shit, piss soaked sponges and rotten veg? It would be a fabulous tourist attraction -people would flock from miles around to take part. I realise it would be messy but the criminals could clear it up as part of their punishment.
Still to end on a high and remind us that for every low type there is a diamond out there. I was delighted to note that an anonymous donor had left us a bag of bulbs at the site -not cheapos either. Other than nurture the bulbs and put on an impressive floral display in the summer I cannot think of a way to thank our mysterious benefactor enough.
With the above in mind if you can identify our benefactor or our thief let me know. All heaven and hell will be unleashed accordingly.
Cheerio
The clue is in the title. Not for the first time I and my fellow Guerrilla Gardeners are victims of crime. Some bastard has been nicking the plants we've put out on our formerly neglected patch for the benefit of everyone who passes by.
The Ill Man and I spent a good portion of Saturday evening trying to crack the case. I've been watching The Bill for years so I'm pretty knowledgeable about detective work. We're both agreed that a local is not responsible and suspect an incoming worker. Their habit of half inching two plants at a time suggests someone on foot. I believe it is one of the teachers at the local primary school, though The Ill Man suspects prejudice has led me to this conclusion. I'm half hoping it is a teacher and that I catch them in the act and can at last take terrible revenge against that wicked shower of child stunters. However other possibilities include the nearby church, colleges and university or the industrial estate.
Naturally, after exchanging theories, talk then turned to how we shall punish the scum responsible. I favoured stripping them naked, burning all their clothes and money and chasing them onto the main road whereas The Ill Man felt that holding them down and forcing them to piss themselves would be a better punishment.
My feeling is that we are not up against the usual member of the criminal classes. A proper criminal thief would make off with entire borders in one go and I don't think Glasgow is the best place to flog nicked outdoor plants as the majority of property is tenemental. No this swine is selfishly stealing public plants for their own private garden whilst no doubt convincing themselves it is a victimless crime, a minor bit of naughtiness that upsets no one. Hah! When I get my hands on them they'll rue the day they made that mistake.
My great Granny was prosecuted for beating up a marine and some other relative crushed a man's hand in a car door for looking at his car. As a family we do not make good victims. I might not be as violent as my fearsome ancestors but what I lack in muscle I make up for in inventive spite. I won't be happy until the person responsible dies of shame, has a breakdown or pays very generous compo and apologises in a grovelling fashion. Whatever comes first.
For anyone shaking their heads at my harshness or that this evidence of the wickedness of modern society, let me direct you to the following Guardian articles. This article shows that garden theft is not a new problem, though it was at least punishable by transportation. This one amply demonstrates that the liberalism of the Guardian reader does not extend to the garden. Truly they're only a lupin theft away from changing their order at the newsagent to the Daily Mail.
Why can't we bring the stocks back? I think they're a wonderful idea. Imagine the joy of hurling rotten food at a petty criminal -that's the sort of thing that brings communities together. Obviously I wouldn't condone hurling hard objects at them. What if a bad throw harmed the mob? But where's the harm in hurling a bit of shit, piss soaked sponges and rotten veg? It would be a fabulous tourist attraction -people would flock from miles around to take part. I realise it would be messy but the criminals could clear it up as part of their punishment.
Still to end on a high and remind us that for every low type there is a diamond out there. I was delighted to note that an anonymous donor had left us a bag of bulbs at the site -not cheapos either. Other than nurture the bulbs and put on an impressive floral display in the summer I cannot think of a way to thank our mysterious benefactor enough.
With the above in mind if you can identify our benefactor or our thief let me know. All heaven and hell will be unleashed accordingly.
Cheerio
7/29/2008
Losing The Battle!
Hello,
Much as it pains me to admit it I'm getting humped in this war. Today's attack involves the theft of a plant with red flowers (I don't know it's proper name). I presume the individual (s) responsible for this intend to continue until there is nothing left.
All was well when I checked on the plants at about 11:30 last night. The next time I checked them 10:30 am today the plant was gone. It's the thought of them sitting in their manky student flat giggling at old Bo Selecta videos, overusing the word like in like the wrong place and plotting against me that really gets my goat. Oh how I'd love to burst through their door and torture them all to death. At the very least I'd settle for catching them in the act. Then I'd slaughter them all without mercy. Harsh but fair.
There is something rather puritanical about their evident objection to beauty and apparent desire to see ugliness restored. A glance through the rubbish they dumped yesterday only serves to underline this impression. Layer upon layer of cardboard ready meal sleeves. In other words food to be eaten and prepared without any pleasure or creativity. Functional mush to fill a hole. Maybe it's nature with it's unpredictable sights, smells and textures that alarms them. Their diet certainly seems peculiarly free of any vegetable matter.
Still I'm being positive -through gritted teeth and will now spend the next few days deciding what to plant in the space left behind. I'm thinking of something bright, flamboyant and ostentatious like a passion flower, though the idea of something nasty with barbed thorns looks increasingly attractive.
Cheerio
Much as it pains me to admit it I'm getting humped in this war. Today's attack involves the theft of a plant with red flowers (I don't know it's proper name). I presume the individual (s) responsible for this intend to continue until there is nothing left.
All was well when I checked on the plants at about 11:30 last night. The next time I checked them 10:30 am today the plant was gone. It's the thought of them sitting in their manky student flat giggling at old Bo Selecta videos, overusing the word like in like the wrong place and plotting against me that really gets my goat. Oh how I'd love to burst through their door and torture them all to death. At the very least I'd settle for catching them in the act. Then I'd slaughter them all without mercy. Harsh but fair.
There is something rather puritanical about their evident objection to beauty and apparent desire to see ugliness restored. A glance through the rubbish they dumped yesterday only serves to underline this impression. Layer upon layer of cardboard ready meal sleeves. In other words food to be eaten and prepared without any pleasure or creativity. Functional mush to fill a hole. Maybe it's nature with it's unpredictable sights, smells and textures that alarms them. Their diet certainly seems peculiarly free of any vegetable matter.
Still I'm being positive -through gritted teeth and will now spend the next few days deciding what to plant in the space left behind. I'm thinking of something bright, flamboyant and ostentatious like a passion flower, though the idea of something nasty with barbed thorns looks increasingly attractive.
Cheerio
7/28/2008
War Is Declared!
Hello,
I or rather my garden has been the victim of crime. I hopped downstairs this morning to find a large bin bag dumped on the path which was bad enough. It was only as I got closer I noticed a bag of broadsheet newspapers deliberately and maliciously dumped on a selection of helpless seedlings. Broadsheet newspapers- if even the educated classes have descended into barbarism what hope is left? Sadly that wasn't the worst of it the evil swine had also ripped out a beautiful fuchsia in full bloom and thrown it onto the street. Not content with that they stamped a small section of seedlings to green mush.
Given the make up of the neighbourhood and the presence of broadsheets I suspect students. This is good news in a way because they tend to move on after a term or two but bad news that we're saddled with such scum in our midst even for a short time. Is it any wonder the proper locals get so hacked off with the yuppiefication of this area? All it's done is attract a load of anti-social little mummies boys who would make a priest pro-abortion.
My first impulse was to rip the bags open and look for anything with an address on it so that I could return the favour on the culprits face but an altogether calmer supporter of the garden intervened and talked me out of that one. Still it's vexing me I want to know who did this so that I can make their life here a wretched misery. Unfortunately they'd covered their tracks and no address could be found so I can't even unleash Mr Plod on them.
I really don't get the mentality behind such behaviour in any case if they hate plants so much, if they cannot share in the simple pleasure of not living in a shitehole why don't they bugger off back to whichever godforsaken suburb they crawled from?
War against an unseen enemy isn't easy but they'll back down before I do. So far the death toll stands at 3 nasturtiums, 2 sunflowers, 1 polyanthus, 6 cornflowers, countless seedlings which could not be identified, the flowers from the fuchsia and my good mood.
Still I've buried the dead, tidied up and will now carry on as if nothing has happened but just wait till I catch the bastards in the act.
Cheerio
I or rather my garden has been the victim of crime. I hopped downstairs this morning to find a large bin bag dumped on the path which was bad enough. It was only as I got closer I noticed a bag of broadsheet newspapers deliberately and maliciously dumped on a selection of helpless seedlings. Broadsheet newspapers- if even the educated classes have descended into barbarism what hope is left? Sadly that wasn't the worst of it the evil swine had also ripped out a beautiful fuchsia in full bloom and thrown it onto the street. Not content with that they stamped a small section of seedlings to green mush.
Given the make up of the neighbourhood and the presence of broadsheets I suspect students. This is good news in a way because they tend to move on after a term or two but bad news that we're saddled with such scum in our midst even for a short time. Is it any wonder the proper locals get so hacked off with the yuppiefication of this area? All it's done is attract a load of anti-social little mummies boys who would make a priest pro-abortion.
My first impulse was to rip the bags open and look for anything with an address on it so that I could return the favour on the culprits face but an altogether calmer supporter of the garden intervened and talked me out of that one. Still it's vexing me I want to know who did this so that I can make their life here a wretched misery. Unfortunately they'd covered their tracks and no address could be found so I can't even unleash Mr Plod on them.
I really don't get the mentality behind such behaviour in any case if they hate plants so much, if they cannot share in the simple pleasure of not living in a shitehole why don't they bugger off back to whichever godforsaken suburb they crawled from?
War against an unseen enemy isn't easy but they'll back down before I do. So far the death toll stands at 3 nasturtiums, 2 sunflowers, 1 polyanthus, 6 cornflowers, countless seedlings which could not be identified, the flowers from the fuchsia and my good mood.
Still I've buried the dead, tidied up and will now carry on as if nothing has happened but just wait till I catch the bastards in the act.
Cheerio
6/22/2008
Oh Dear God No!
Hello,
I note that Mr Tsvangirai has pulled out of the election. Whilst I disapprove of the decision I cannot say with any certainty it was wrong or that in his shoes I'd have done differently. It's the easiest thing in the world for me to sit on my big pampered Scottish arse and say he should hold out as it will be best in the long run but to sit back and actually see people slaughtered is another matter entirely. I remain appalled and disappointed that there seems to be no end to the situation. If I had any influence I'd tell the Vatican to excommunicate Mugabe -after all if a woman who has an abortion at any stage of pregnancy can be kicked out the church then I see no reason to allow a mass murderer membership. I did raise this with a Catholic of my acquaintance who retorted that 'at least he isn't Islam'. Remind me again why Catholics are far too grand to go to school with the rest of us? Full of religion and fuck all Christianity- frankly exposure to normal people would do them a power of good.
Anyway to amble back towards the point I intended to make. Thabo Mbeki is a swine. Volumes are spoken by his silence. I deplore war and whilst I'm no pacifist wish to see it avoided at every reasonable cost but if Mbeki cared about his fellow Africans, his nation and country men and women he'd issue a firm threat of military action to his chum Mugabe. At least two million Zimbabwean refugees are living in squalor in South Africa which tells us all we need to know about conditions in Zimbabwe.
When I was a girl I used to send a portion of my pocket money to the ANC to help free Mandela. If I'd realised Mandela for all his flaws was the nearest to decent they had I'd have blown the lot on Merrydown cider, big earrings, joss sticks and drugs. What a bunch of stenchers -African Labour party anyone?
Whether Mbeki likes it or not, it is his problem. The black poor of South Africa can no more afford refugees than a double garage and swimming pool each. In his own country's interest, if no other he must take decisive action. Removing Mugabe could reduce the population of South Africa by at least two million and ease the burden on the impoverished communities who support them.
Quiet diplomacy isn't working, there is no negotiation with someone who reckons God is more important that the electorate. Get in there, remove Mugabe and lets see a Zimbabwe worth existing.
Cheerio
I note that Mr Tsvangirai has pulled out of the election. Whilst I disapprove of the decision I cannot say with any certainty it was wrong or that in his shoes I'd have done differently. It's the easiest thing in the world for me to sit on my big pampered Scottish arse and say he should hold out as it will be best in the long run but to sit back and actually see people slaughtered is another matter entirely. I remain appalled and disappointed that there seems to be no end to the situation. If I had any influence I'd tell the Vatican to excommunicate Mugabe -after all if a woman who has an abortion at any stage of pregnancy can be kicked out the church then I see no reason to allow a mass murderer membership. I did raise this with a Catholic of my acquaintance who retorted that 'at least he isn't Islam'. Remind me again why Catholics are far too grand to go to school with the rest of us? Full of religion and fuck all Christianity- frankly exposure to normal people would do them a power of good.
Anyway to amble back towards the point I intended to make. Thabo Mbeki is a swine. Volumes are spoken by his silence. I deplore war and whilst I'm no pacifist wish to see it avoided at every reasonable cost but if Mbeki cared about his fellow Africans, his nation and country men and women he'd issue a firm threat of military action to his chum Mugabe. At least two million Zimbabwean refugees are living in squalor in South Africa which tells us all we need to know about conditions in Zimbabwe.
When I was a girl I used to send a portion of my pocket money to the ANC to help free Mandela. If I'd realised Mandela for all his flaws was the nearest to decent they had I'd have blown the lot on Merrydown cider, big earrings, joss sticks and drugs. What a bunch of stenchers -African Labour party anyone?
Whether Mbeki likes it or not, it is his problem. The black poor of South Africa can no more afford refugees than a double garage and swimming pool each. In his own country's interest, if no other he must take decisive action. Removing Mugabe could reduce the population of South Africa by at least two million and ease the burden on the impoverished communities who support them.
Quiet diplomacy isn't working, there is no negotiation with someone who reckons God is more important that the electorate. Get in there, remove Mugabe and lets see a Zimbabwe worth existing.
Cheerio
Have These People Actually Met A Benefit Claimant?
Hello,
There I was heartily cheering on good old Mr Eugenides for his excellent post on Taysides bribery of smokers to quit the noble habit, when I spoiled my day by reading the comments. I should say that some of them are quite marvellous but a couple got my goat.
Tayside are paying the bribes by way of a smart card that prevents the recipient spending the money on booze and fags. Would you be surprised to learn that some folk think that in part at least it is a good idea?
'Why should we taxpayers have to pay for the fags & booze for feckless scrounging deadbeats?
And further, if benefit dosh could only be spent on essential "non-fun" items I dare say we'd see a lot more of the parasites out looking for work and perhaps even taking some of the jobs which they currently think are beneath em.'
It may surprise Bulldog to learn that in the real world there are some people who should actually be receiving benefit. I know it's amazing but some folk are genuinely disabled. Why in God's name should we be able to tell them how to spend their money? He/she might want to target fraudsters with his proposals but there is no way of doing so without treating genuine folk worse than we already do.
To be fair it is quite difficult for the average person to make sense of the complicated UK benefits system but I would urge anyone who is in the least bit interested in it to make the effort to learn more about it and meet some claimants. I believe Citizens Advice deal with a fair few benefit claims and take volunteers, failing that if you have knowledge and experience of disabilities you may be able to get paid work on benefit tribunals should a vacancy arise. Both these opportunities will bring you into contact with all the claimants you can handle, including those scrounging old wasters aged 65+ that want something for a life times work. Worse still there are scroungers on the Down's Syndrome bandwagon and their carers looking for a handout. My recent caseload includes such scrounging wasters as a gang raped and battered woman who went on benefits after her employer sacked her for taking too much time off after the attack, a 9 year old with very severe autism, a woman who contracted MRSA after a double mastectomy two months ago. Quite frankly if these people or their carers want to spend a few quid on a pint and 20 fags then I reckon they've earned it. Unless of course you think they've started cutting their tits off to scam money?
I do realise that there are chancers out there. I've spent many a happy hour asking people who are too frightened to leave the house how they managed to get to my office unaccompanied. Incidentally the answer is usually indicates that my idiot assistant told them to put that on the form. It is at times like this I realise I'd be a rotten lawyer -I cannot bring myself to make much of an effort for these people at tribunals - I should also add with regret add that these are my native as opposed to my refugee clients who could teach us all a thing or two about standing on your own two feet and how fucking ace this country really is. On the other hand I'll do absolutely everything within my power for a genuine case. I'm often found poring over dull benefit law books into the wee small hours when I've got a proper case. It is of course the chancers that bring the whole notion of state benefits into disrepute and I've said it before and will say it again a proper medical not just a dishonest multiple choice shambles would boot thousands off benefits and allow the genuine claimant to avoid the unpleasantness of appeals and endless form filling.
Assisting small businesses and charities to hire disabled folk would also see yet more folk able to get by without benefits. Certain disabilities cost money to accommodate and this is money that small organisations cannot afford. When I was self-employed I couldn't have employed anyone who was wheelchair bound for example, as my premises were up three flights of stairs and the cost of installing a chair lift would have put me out of business. I deplore unfair discrimination but had anyone wheelchair bound approached me for a job I would have been forced to come up with a good excuse to say no.
Similarly changing the emphasis of work focused interviews from trying to shove folk into any old job regardless of suitability to installing the idea that they are in charge of their own life and are capable of generating their own income. The underclass are the most natural and unconscious entrepreneurs of any class. All that drug dealing, money lending and flogging of stolen goods should give us a clue where their talents lie. Make it easier and more worthwhile to go legit and they'll follow the money. There's stacks of tax payers cash swilling about, use it properly and we'll all be on tax cut.
I must admit I'm baffled by the benefit claimant= scum argument. When I was unemployed I claimed Jobseekers Allowance and then when I started my business the £30 a week for six months the tory government were dishing out to folk who started businesses. When I was on JSA I put £30 p/w into buying stock for my business and had the princely sum of £6.50 p/w to spend on myself, as I was living at home home I spent that on fags, to this day I cannot see why my right to do so should have been taken away. More so and this is one for the capitalists reading, when I made a fair bit selling t-shirts decorated with fag burns- seriously they flew out the door at £14 a pop .
Just think if the state had deprived me of fags they'd have destroyed a lucrative and enjoyable source of income. I'd also like the claimant =scum mob to tell me when I ceased to be scum, was it when I decided to start a business, when I got a loan to get it going, when my enterprise allowance ran out or am I tainted forever by having claimed state benefits over a decade ago? I'm genuinely intrigued.
Cheerio
There I was heartily cheering on good old Mr Eugenides for his excellent post on Taysides bribery of smokers to quit the noble habit, when I spoiled my day by reading the comments. I should say that some of them are quite marvellous but a couple got my goat.
Tayside are paying the bribes by way of a smart card that prevents the recipient spending the money on booze and fags. Would you be surprised to learn that some folk think that in part at least it is a good idea?
'Why should we taxpayers have to pay for the fags & booze for feckless scrounging deadbeats?
And further, if benefit dosh could only be spent on essential "non-fun" items I dare say we'd see a lot more of the parasites out looking for work and perhaps even taking some of the jobs which they currently think are beneath em.'
It may surprise Bulldog to learn that in the real world there are some people who should actually be receiving benefit. I know it's amazing but some folk are genuinely disabled. Why in God's name should we be able to tell them how to spend their money? He/she might want to target fraudsters with his proposals but there is no way of doing so without treating genuine folk worse than we already do.
To be fair it is quite difficult for the average person to make sense of the complicated UK benefits system but I would urge anyone who is in the least bit interested in it to make the effort to learn more about it and meet some claimants. I believe Citizens Advice deal with a fair few benefit claims and take volunteers, failing that if you have knowledge and experience of disabilities you may be able to get paid work on benefit tribunals should a vacancy arise. Both these opportunities will bring you into contact with all the claimants you can handle, including those scrounging old wasters aged 65+ that want something for a life times work. Worse still there are scroungers on the Down's Syndrome bandwagon and their carers looking for a handout. My recent caseload includes such scrounging wasters as a gang raped and battered woman who went on benefits after her employer sacked her for taking too much time off after the attack, a 9 year old with very severe autism, a woman who contracted MRSA after a double mastectomy two months ago. Quite frankly if these people or their carers want to spend a few quid on a pint and 20 fags then I reckon they've earned it. Unless of course you think they've started cutting their tits off to scam money?
I do realise that there are chancers out there. I've spent many a happy hour asking people who are too frightened to leave the house how they managed to get to my office unaccompanied. Incidentally the answer is usually indicates that my idiot assistant told them to put that on the form. It is at times like this I realise I'd be a rotten lawyer -I cannot bring myself to make much of an effort for these people at tribunals - I should also add with regret add that these are my native as opposed to my refugee clients who could teach us all a thing or two about standing on your own two feet and how fucking ace this country really is. On the other hand I'll do absolutely everything within my power for a genuine case. I'm often found poring over dull benefit law books into the wee small hours when I've got a proper case. It is of course the chancers that bring the whole notion of state benefits into disrepute and I've said it before and will say it again a proper medical not just a dishonest multiple choice shambles would boot thousands off benefits and allow the genuine claimant to avoid the unpleasantness of appeals and endless form filling.
Assisting small businesses and charities to hire disabled folk would also see yet more folk able to get by without benefits. Certain disabilities cost money to accommodate and this is money that small organisations cannot afford. When I was self-employed I couldn't have employed anyone who was wheelchair bound for example, as my premises were up three flights of stairs and the cost of installing a chair lift would have put me out of business. I deplore unfair discrimination but had anyone wheelchair bound approached me for a job I would have been forced to come up with a good excuse to say no.
Similarly changing the emphasis of work focused interviews from trying to shove folk into any old job regardless of suitability to installing the idea that they are in charge of their own life and are capable of generating their own income. The underclass are the most natural and unconscious entrepreneurs of any class. All that drug dealing, money lending and flogging of stolen goods should give us a clue where their talents lie. Make it easier and more worthwhile to go legit and they'll follow the money. There's stacks of tax payers cash swilling about, use it properly and we'll all be on tax cut.
I must admit I'm baffled by the benefit claimant= scum argument. When I was unemployed I claimed Jobseekers Allowance and then when I started my business the £30 a week for six months the tory government were dishing out to folk who started businesses. When I was on JSA I put £30 p/w into buying stock for my business and had the princely sum of £6.50 p/w to spend on myself, as I was living at home home I spent that on fags, to this day I cannot see why my right to do so should have been taken away. More so and this is one for the capitalists reading, when I made a fair bit selling t-shirts decorated with fag burns- seriously they flew out the door at £14 a pop .
Just think if the state had deprived me of fags they'd have destroyed a lucrative and enjoyable source of income. I'd also like the claimant =scum mob to tell me when I ceased to be scum, was it when I decided to start a business, when I got a loan to get it going, when my enterprise allowance ran out or am I tainted forever by having claimed state benefits over a decade ago? I'm genuinely intrigued.
Cheerio
6/07/2008
It's Not Us it's You.
Hello,
Some of you may recall I wrote a rather rude post a while back about Tanya Gold. Would you believe it she's annoyed me again?
On my internet travels -well checking my stats and scrutinising what brought people to this well of loneliness, I came across Tanya's account of speed dating.
This article or rather disgraceful piece of snobbery and hollow intellectual boasting just about sums this moron up. It poses the question which I'm sure we've all asked ourselves, do men prefer 'dazzlingly literate human rights lawyers' or 'gibbering idiots who work as florists'.
It's perhaps symptomatic of living in a predominantly working class city but snobbery of this variety always knocks me off my feet. Has some form of class apartheid been introduced where Ms Gold lives? I merely ask because her idea of what she thinks folk who work in florists must be like beggars belief.
In the interests of research Fat Tan hauls her vast arse out speed dating, the first time pretending to be a human rights lawyer and the second pretending to be a florist. She skews her research by cunningly behaving like an aggressive, objectionable bore in her guise as a lawyer. What this is meant to tell us about men isn't clear. I cannot stand people who endlessly bang on about their qualifications or folk who try and foist their opinions on you at totally inappropriate moments and I'm a woman. Is a speed dating event really the right place to air your views on wearing leather or the Middle East?
Of course unlike Fat Tan I'm not not single and even when I was I didn't really mind. I've always been able to get along nicely, anything additional is just a bonus. Poor Tan -a fine brain and not a shred of dignity or self reliance! Even when I was single I was rarely short of company, perhaps that's why I never felt the need to write self pitying articles complaining that men don't fancy me.
Anyway to return to her contempt for florists of all people. What on earth this largely female group of semi-skilled working class people did to rile feminist Tanya is never explained but her contempt for them is obvious. To convince her potential suitors she is a florist she giggles a lot, pretends not to know what a geneticist is, asks what a chair is, asks why water is wet and most hilarious of all pretended that she wanted to open her own florists.
I drew the conclusion a while back that what most western feminists mean by women's rights is the world saying how high when a middle class women says jump. We see endless articles by stuck up middens on juggling career and motherhood or the pain of being mildly rebuked for some lifestyle choice or another but precious few on juggling a life worth living with a pitiful existence in a theocracy or the miserable lot of elderly women on crime ridden council schemes.
I wouldn't mind if they'd at least be honest about it. Perhaps we could do a deal those folk interested in the well being of women could call ourselves feminists and Tanya Gold and chums could be known as Violet Elizabeth Bott's Barmy Army. At least that way we'd all know what we were getting. Honestly every time Tanya Gold uses the word feminist I want to alert Trading Standards or reach for a blunt instrument.
Cheerio
Some of you may recall I wrote a rather rude post a while back about Tanya Gold. Would you believe it she's annoyed me again?
On my internet travels -well checking my stats and scrutinising what brought people to this well of loneliness, I came across Tanya's account of speed dating.
This article or rather disgraceful piece of snobbery and hollow intellectual boasting just about sums this moron up. It poses the question which I'm sure we've all asked ourselves, do men prefer 'dazzlingly literate human rights lawyers' or 'gibbering idiots who work as florists'.
It's perhaps symptomatic of living in a predominantly working class city but snobbery of this variety always knocks me off my feet. Has some form of class apartheid been introduced where Ms Gold lives? I merely ask because her idea of what she thinks folk who work in florists must be like beggars belief.
In the interests of research Fat Tan hauls her vast arse out speed dating, the first time pretending to be a human rights lawyer and the second pretending to be a florist. She skews her research by cunningly behaving like an aggressive, objectionable bore in her guise as a lawyer. What this is meant to tell us about men isn't clear. I cannot stand people who endlessly bang on about their qualifications or folk who try and foist their opinions on you at totally inappropriate moments and I'm a woman. Is a speed dating event really the right place to air your views on wearing leather or the Middle East?
Of course unlike Fat Tan I'm not not single and even when I was I didn't really mind. I've always been able to get along nicely, anything additional is just a bonus. Poor Tan -a fine brain and not a shred of dignity or self reliance! Even when I was single I was rarely short of company, perhaps that's why I never felt the need to write self pitying articles complaining that men don't fancy me.
Anyway to return to her contempt for florists of all people. What on earth this largely female group of semi-skilled working class people did to rile feminist Tanya is never explained but her contempt for them is obvious. To convince her potential suitors she is a florist she giggles a lot, pretends not to know what a geneticist is, asks what a chair is, asks why water is wet and most hilarious of all pretended that she wanted to open her own florists.
I drew the conclusion a while back that what most western feminists mean by women's rights is the world saying how high when a middle class women says jump. We see endless articles by stuck up middens on juggling career and motherhood or the pain of being mildly rebuked for some lifestyle choice or another but precious few on juggling a life worth living with a pitiful existence in a theocracy or the miserable lot of elderly women on crime ridden council schemes.
I wouldn't mind if they'd at least be honest about it. Perhaps we could do a deal those folk interested in the well being of women could call ourselves feminists and Tanya Gold and chums could be known as Violet Elizabeth Bott's Barmy Army. At least that way we'd all know what we were getting. Honestly every time Tanya Gold uses the word feminist I want to alert Trading Standards or reach for a blunt instrument.
Cheerio
4/17/2008
Praised and Damned
Hello,
It's been an odd sort of day. This morning I was being brought gifts by clients and hailed as the 'Queen of Scotland' by one particularly excitable fellow -mind you after what happened to the last one I'm not sure that was as complimentary as it first seemed. The only sad note of the morning was it being the last shift worked by my glamorous, clever, reliable and bloody fantastic assistant. Actually it's an insult to refer to her as that she was the nearest I've had to a mentor and role model in my working life.
Before anyone says it I didn't drive her out a job. In fact it was her personal loyalty and kindness to me that did for her. When I had all that awful bother with my health she refused to participate in the bullying campaign my boss orchestrated when even people who like me did out of cowardice half heartedly stuck the boot in. In fact she is the only person in my career who has ever stuck their own neck on the line purely to defend my interests. To put this in context one can have a very good life in my office if you sneak in with the boss. In return for your loyalty you can get work for any tradesmen you happen to be married/living with or related to. Not only that but there are the extra holidays, 'extra' expenses and use of the taxi account. Still my heroic assistant turned her nose up at all that and paid the price by having her work excessively, unreasonably and unfairly monitored, by being unfairly selected for redundancy and sent to coventry on and off for the last few years. So accustomed was our esteemed boss to finding fault with her she got a tongue lashing for handing in her notice.
I must confess there was a tear or two when she left today and a fair bit of repressed rage on my part when she left. So when the assistant manager had a go at me in a most aggressive and confrontational manner for leaving at five and not doing any unpaid overtime last week she got it one barrel- both barrels involves complete honesty. I had no idea I was so ferocious. When I paused for breath she announced she was going to fetch her boss to speak to me. When I started laughing she started shaking and ran out the room, then came back alone still shaking. I merely continued where I left off and tears sprang to her eyes and she said she had nothing further to say and released me from the office. At one point she unfairly accused me of showing her disrespect which I have made every reasonable human effort to conceal. The cheek of her -if I was completely honest about what I thought of her she'd kill herself. She has a backbone like her belly -useless and flabby and the management skills of a dung beetle. No wonder her ex tried to strangle her. His only crime was amateurishness. Why couldn't she have married the Yorkshire Ripper instead?
Mind you I'll be in for it when her boss decides to collar me. As she didn't capture me today I presume she's picking her moment. I really wish they'd just sack me, they know they want to.
Cheerio
It's been an odd sort of day. This morning I was being brought gifts by clients and hailed as the 'Queen of Scotland' by one particularly excitable fellow -mind you after what happened to the last one I'm not sure that was as complimentary as it first seemed. The only sad note of the morning was it being the last shift worked by my glamorous, clever, reliable and bloody fantastic assistant. Actually it's an insult to refer to her as that she was the nearest I've had to a mentor and role model in my working life.
Before anyone says it I didn't drive her out a job. In fact it was her personal loyalty and kindness to me that did for her. When I had all that awful bother with my health she refused to participate in the bullying campaign my boss orchestrated when even people who like me did out of cowardice half heartedly stuck the boot in. In fact she is the only person in my career who has ever stuck their own neck on the line purely to defend my interests. To put this in context one can have a very good life in my office if you sneak in with the boss. In return for your loyalty you can get work for any tradesmen you happen to be married/living with or related to. Not only that but there are the extra holidays, 'extra' expenses and use of the taxi account. Still my heroic assistant turned her nose up at all that and paid the price by having her work excessively, unreasonably and unfairly monitored, by being unfairly selected for redundancy and sent to coventry on and off for the last few years. So accustomed was our esteemed boss to finding fault with her she got a tongue lashing for handing in her notice.
I must confess there was a tear or two when she left today and a fair bit of repressed rage on my part when she left. So when the assistant manager had a go at me in a most aggressive and confrontational manner for leaving at five and not doing any unpaid overtime last week she got it one barrel- both barrels involves complete honesty. I had no idea I was so ferocious. When I paused for breath she announced she was going to fetch her boss to speak to me. When I started laughing she started shaking and ran out the room, then came back alone still shaking. I merely continued where I left off and tears sprang to her eyes and she said she had nothing further to say and released me from the office. At one point she unfairly accused me of showing her disrespect which I have made every reasonable human effort to conceal. The cheek of her -if I was completely honest about what I thought of her she'd kill herself. She has a backbone like her belly -useless and flabby and the management skills of a dung beetle. No wonder her ex tried to strangle her. His only crime was amateurishness. Why couldn't she have married the Yorkshire Ripper instead?
Mind you I'll be in for it when her boss decides to collar me. As she didn't capture me today I presume she's picking her moment. I really wish they'd just sack me, they know they want to.
Cheerio
12/19/2007
Having A Pop At Herion Addicts
Hello,
Following on from my last post, inspired by Jim Millar's very sensible post on a related topic and being in the mood for a rant I thought I'd expand on my views on heroin addiction.
To declare an interest up front I have very little patience for drug addicts, call me harsh but when you've had friends steal from you, manipulate you into 'lending' them money you can ill afford, witnessed the devastation it causes in both families and the wider community and observed the effects it has on the user -it's hard to be patient.
Still we, I am happy to say live in a society where systems are in place to help people in need, the problem for me is that I'm not always convinced that the help we give people is really helping them at all. Beware -anecdotal evidence to follow.
Firstly an acquaintance of mine and red hot socialist to boot elected to work with drug addicts in an earlier fit of compassion. She soon had her halo knocked off after a few night shifts answering phone calls from highly indignant heroin addicts demanding a taxi to take them to the chemist for methadone, having missed their earlier appointment. Incredibly taxis are routinely arranged for this. Given that heroin withdrawal is unpleasant but not life threatening or disabling -why is a taxi at public expense required? Of course anyone who'd thought it through for more than five minutes would realise that the reason they'd missed their earlier appointment was that they had a supply of heroin at that time and didn't require methadone. Who other than taxi drivers is this intended to help? The methadone programme is there for people who are serious about kicking the habit not as an emergency back up for smack addicts. That being the case would it not be kinder to addicts to stop offering them incentives to give free reign to their worst instincts and at least impose the discipline of timekeeping on them. A valuable skill to develop for their return to the world of work.
When was the last time you head of anyone giving up an addiction by being pandered to at every opportunity? The 24 hour supply of methadone should be stopped and anyone missing their allotted time should go without. After all alcohol withdrawal is potentially life threatening, where are the free taxis to state subsidised 24 hour pubs for alcoholics? There is no risk to the health of the withdrawing heroin addict and to treat them as if there is is both wicked and a waste of valuable resources.
Moving on to the benefits system. In my experience heroin addicts can usually claim Incapacity Credits without undue difficulty but struggle to attain an award of Disability Living Allowance.
I have reluctantly defended many an addict at DLA tribunals with, I'm sad to say some success.
The whole purpose of DLA is to allow disabled people to pay for help with care and mobility, for example someone with arthritis might not be physically able to use public transport but could pay for taxi's or they may require the attention of a home help etc . That to me is a proper use of the system but does anyone really believe that is how the average addict uses their money? I think we do drug addicts a great disservice by giving them cash. I realise voucher schemes for asylum seekers were scrapped for being too expensive but addiction is one instance where vouchers would be worth the extra cost in that it would ensure no-one starves but would not assist the addict to continue in their lifestyle.
The country has changed but the benefits system has not kept up, so addicts are shoved off Jobseekers' onto sickness benefits. I would like to see these replaced with with 'Addict Vouchers' for registered drug addicts which could be spent on food and essential items only. A small cash allowance to cover water and fuel etc could be paid and if they spent that on drugs tough tits because I'd also bar them from the social fund which they abuse mercilessly.
Of course it may be argued that the downside of this is that it might discourage folk from seeking help. I disagree, it would restrict the amount of people seeking help to those making a genuine effort to clean up and see off those folk who use addiction programmes as a means of obtaining a back up opiate supply.
Giving drug addicts cash benefits is a drop in the ocean in terms of fighting crime. No affordable amount of benefit would be sufficient to cover the costs of a full blown addict. They choose to steal because they believe their pleasure takes precedence over everyone else's right to own property and for that they should be caught and jailed or better still the police presence should be increased to a point where much crime is prevented. Either way the presence of drugs in prison should be eliminated by visits taking place through glass to prevent any physical contact. If through regular random testing drugs were found to be in the prison then the long finger of suspicion would fall on the staff who should be given full body searches on arrival to work until the problem is eliminated. No-one should come out of prison a drug addict if we're serious about rehabilitating people.
As for needle exchange schemes, I'm half-minded to scrap them. Everyone knows that HIV and Hepatitis are spread through the use of needles. Injecting Heroin is deeply risky. One only has to gaze at the amount of young amputees on Glasgow's schemes to know that. I realise that in the current anti-smoking climate suggesting that addicts either smoke or quit is bound to be unpopular but they have consistently demonstrated that they are unable to clear up after themselves. They do not care about the welfare of the wider community when they discard needles on buses, in tenements and swing parks. It is certain that community welfare is not what they have in mind when the threaten minimum wage shop security guards with blood filled needles and tell them they have AIDS. The risks of Heroin and indeed injecting Heroin are well publicised and should remain so. Addicts choose to be addicts, so there is no reason for the rest of us to suffer accordingly. Nor is there any reason to supply needles when they know the risks. If there is sufficient demand dealers will supply them.
Finally I had the utterly excruciating experience of taking an employee of an African NGO out on my rounds a while back. At first he thought he'd landed in heaven then rapidly came to the conclusion that this country would be fine if it swapped populations with his. He works with people that need to walk 15 miles for safe drinking water, who have been reliant on harvests that often fail, who have whip rounds to ensure that at least one of their children has a basic education, who routinely die of diarrhea, who really are forced to steal to eat. He could not understand why people chain themselves to even relative poverty by addiction, he could not understand why people commit crime when they have enough money to live. The worst outing of all he had was to Barlinnie Prison in Glasgow. Imagine how you would feel if you came from a country where starvation was common and then saw a higher standard of living in a Scottish jail.
Talk about the decadent west! I have never had such difficulty looking a human being in the eye in my life. Nor have I ever witnessed such a struggle to contain one's emotions in one human being. All he wanted to do was weep. If I were him I'd have slapped someone.
Cheerio
Following on from my last post, inspired by Jim Millar's very sensible post on a related topic and being in the mood for a rant I thought I'd expand on my views on heroin addiction.
To declare an interest up front I have very little patience for drug addicts, call me harsh but when you've had friends steal from you, manipulate you into 'lending' them money you can ill afford, witnessed the devastation it causes in both families and the wider community and observed the effects it has on the user -it's hard to be patient.
Still we, I am happy to say live in a society where systems are in place to help people in need, the problem for me is that I'm not always convinced that the help we give people is really helping them at all. Beware -anecdotal evidence to follow.
Firstly an acquaintance of mine and red hot socialist to boot elected to work with drug addicts in an earlier fit of compassion. She soon had her halo knocked off after a few night shifts answering phone calls from highly indignant heroin addicts demanding a taxi to take them to the chemist for methadone, having missed their earlier appointment. Incredibly taxis are routinely arranged for this. Given that heroin withdrawal is unpleasant but not life threatening or disabling -why is a taxi at public expense required? Of course anyone who'd thought it through for more than five minutes would realise that the reason they'd missed their earlier appointment was that they had a supply of heroin at that time and didn't require methadone. Who other than taxi drivers is this intended to help? The methadone programme is there for people who are serious about kicking the habit not as an emergency back up for smack addicts. That being the case would it not be kinder to addicts to stop offering them incentives to give free reign to their worst instincts and at least impose the discipline of timekeeping on them. A valuable skill to develop for their return to the world of work.
When was the last time you head of anyone giving up an addiction by being pandered to at every opportunity? The 24 hour supply of methadone should be stopped and anyone missing their allotted time should go without. After all alcohol withdrawal is potentially life threatening, where are the free taxis to state subsidised 24 hour pubs for alcoholics? There is no risk to the health of the withdrawing heroin addict and to treat them as if there is is both wicked and a waste of valuable resources.
Moving on to the benefits system. In my experience heroin addicts can usually claim Incapacity Credits without undue difficulty but struggle to attain an award of Disability Living Allowance.
I have reluctantly defended many an addict at DLA tribunals with, I'm sad to say some success.
The whole purpose of DLA is to allow disabled people to pay for help with care and mobility, for example someone with arthritis might not be physically able to use public transport but could pay for taxi's or they may require the attention of a home help etc . That to me is a proper use of the system but does anyone really believe that is how the average addict uses their money? I think we do drug addicts a great disservice by giving them cash. I realise voucher schemes for asylum seekers were scrapped for being too expensive but addiction is one instance where vouchers would be worth the extra cost in that it would ensure no-one starves but would not assist the addict to continue in their lifestyle.
The country has changed but the benefits system has not kept up, so addicts are shoved off Jobseekers' onto sickness benefits. I would like to see these replaced with with 'Addict Vouchers' for registered drug addicts which could be spent on food and essential items only. A small cash allowance to cover water and fuel etc could be paid and if they spent that on drugs tough tits because I'd also bar them from the social fund which they abuse mercilessly.
Of course it may be argued that the downside of this is that it might discourage folk from seeking help. I disagree, it would restrict the amount of people seeking help to those making a genuine effort to clean up and see off those folk who use addiction programmes as a means of obtaining a back up opiate supply.
Giving drug addicts cash benefits is a drop in the ocean in terms of fighting crime. No affordable amount of benefit would be sufficient to cover the costs of a full blown addict. They choose to steal because they believe their pleasure takes precedence over everyone else's right to own property and for that they should be caught and jailed or better still the police presence should be increased to a point where much crime is prevented. Either way the presence of drugs in prison should be eliminated by visits taking place through glass to prevent any physical contact. If through regular random testing drugs were found to be in the prison then the long finger of suspicion would fall on the staff who should be given full body searches on arrival to work until the problem is eliminated. No-one should come out of prison a drug addict if we're serious about rehabilitating people.
As for needle exchange schemes, I'm half-minded to scrap them. Everyone knows that HIV and Hepatitis are spread through the use of needles. Injecting Heroin is deeply risky. One only has to gaze at the amount of young amputees on Glasgow's schemes to know that. I realise that in the current anti-smoking climate suggesting that addicts either smoke or quit is bound to be unpopular but they have consistently demonstrated that they are unable to clear up after themselves. They do not care about the welfare of the wider community when they discard needles on buses, in tenements and swing parks. It is certain that community welfare is not what they have in mind when the threaten minimum wage shop security guards with blood filled needles and tell them they have AIDS. The risks of Heroin and indeed injecting Heroin are well publicised and should remain so. Addicts choose to be addicts, so there is no reason for the rest of us to suffer accordingly. Nor is there any reason to supply needles when they know the risks. If there is sufficient demand dealers will supply them.
Finally I had the utterly excruciating experience of taking an employee of an African NGO out on my rounds a while back. At first he thought he'd landed in heaven then rapidly came to the conclusion that this country would be fine if it swapped populations with his. He works with people that need to walk 15 miles for safe drinking water, who have been reliant on harvests that often fail, who have whip rounds to ensure that at least one of their children has a basic education, who routinely die of diarrhea, who really are forced to steal to eat. He could not understand why people chain themselves to even relative poverty by addiction, he could not understand why people commit crime when they have enough money to live. The worst outing of all he had was to Barlinnie Prison in Glasgow. Imagine how you would feel if you came from a country where starvation was common and then saw a higher standard of living in a Scottish jail.
Talk about the decadent west! I have never had such difficulty looking a human being in the eye in my life. Nor have I ever witnessed such a struggle to contain one's emotions in one human being. All he wanted to do was weep. If I were him I'd have slapped someone.
Cheerio
12/18/2007
The Shame Continues
Hello,
Hard on the heels of my drunken episode comes news of Mr Clairwil going off the rails. He didn't even have the excuse of the demon drink which allows me to retain the moral high ground, though in his defence he was trying to 'rehabilitate' a junkie thief.
The sad thing is the junkie in question was almost quite decent in that he used to fund his habit by servicing chaps in various gay cruising spots in Glasgow. There was no need for him to turn to theft. I can only assume he did so out of selfishness, a disapproval of prostitution being somewhat absurd under the circumstances.
The facts of the matter are as follows, he was strolling along when he glanced in a shop window only to spot a junkie who had stolen a large amount of stock from his old shop. Incredibly the junkie actually seemed to have a job in the shop, which raised Mr Clairwil's hopes of getting his money back- he's a clever man but there are times when his naivety astonishes me. The poor soul doesn't realise that shame has been abolished and that far from being embarrassed the thief will perceive himself as the victim.
If only I'd been there. The whole reason people choose to addict themselves to smack is to absolve themselves of responsibility for their own lives, so there was and is no way he was ever going to be paid back. To the junkie it isn't his fault he steals, he's a helpless addict after all, instead he steals because the rest of us are wicked enough to own anything that isn't nailed down. Honestly I've no patience with junkies I've never met one that didn't turn into a bastard and I include two former friends in that both of whom I'd have gladly lain down my life for prior to their addiction. I had no hesitation in dropping them like hot bricks when they began to regard everyone around them as little more than a source of cash.
Which is why headbutting the creature was futile. Not to mention a silly thing to do in front of witnesses. More so when the witnesses sprang into action and sat on Mr Clairwil, refusing to let him go until he promised not to hit anyone. On reflection it's as well I wasn't there or I'd have started biting folk Tyson style. No one sits on Mr Clairwil on my watch.
That isn't the worst of it, while the staff were sat on Mr Clairwil one of them scratched him. Isn't that appalling! I don't know who is responsible, so I'm forced to punish the whole shop and so a vendetta is born.
Cheerio
Hard on the heels of my drunken episode comes news of Mr Clairwil going off the rails. He didn't even have the excuse of the demon drink which allows me to retain the moral high ground, though in his defence he was trying to 'rehabilitate' a junkie thief.
The sad thing is the junkie in question was almost quite decent in that he used to fund his habit by servicing chaps in various gay cruising spots in Glasgow. There was no need for him to turn to theft. I can only assume he did so out of selfishness, a disapproval of prostitution being somewhat absurd under the circumstances.
The facts of the matter are as follows, he was strolling along when he glanced in a shop window only to spot a junkie who had stolen a large amount of stock from his old shop. Incredibly the junkie actually seemed to have a job in the shop, which raised Mr Clairwil's hopes of getting his money back- he's a clever man but there are times when his naivety astonishes me. The poor soul doesn't realise that shame has been abolished and that far from being embarrassed the thief will perceive himself as the victim.
If only I'd been there. The whole reason people choose to addict themselves to smack is to absolve themselves of responsibility for their own lives, so there was and is no way he was ever going to be paid back. To the junkie it isn't his fault he steals, he's a helpless addict after all, instead he steals because the rest of us are wicked enough to own anything that isn't nailed down. Honestly I've no patience with junkies I've never met one that didn't turn into a bastard and I include two former friends in that both of whom I'd have gladly lain down my life for prior to their addiction. I had no hesitation in dropping them like hot bricks when they began to regard everyone around them as little more than a source of cash.
Which is why headbutting the creature was futile. Not to mention a silly thing to do in front of witnesses. More so when the witnesses sprang into action and sat on Mr Clairwil, refusing to let him go until he promised not to hit anyone. On reflection it's as well I wasn't there or I'd have started biting folk Tyson style. No one sits on Mr Clairwil on my watch.
That isn't the worst of it, while the staff were sat on Mr Clairwil one of them scratched him. Isn't that appalling! I don't know who is responsible, so I'm forced to punish the whole shop and so a vendetta is born.
Cheerio
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)