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July 03 Meltdown by Paul Mason (2009)Ever since I have been reading newspapers the Business and Finance sections have remained a mystery to me. They seem to be written in some kind of code I don’t understand so I leave the analysis of what’s being said to others far more qualified than me to comment on such matters. And that’s the attitude that has allowed the monumental crisis that swept across the world last year to happen. No body, least of all Gordon Brown or Alastair Darling dared to say; “Hold on a minute, what’s going on here? Why are High Street Banks, which are the bed rock of our economy betting billions of pounds on bundles of debt made up of dodgy US mortgages, UK credit card debt, and various other iffy loans? Not only is it immoral but what happens if there is even the slightest problem?” Instead Brown was lauding the Banking sector to the high heavens and claiming that de regulation and abolishing the pesky rules that prevented ordinary Banks from becoming involved in the investment circus and insurance was the reason why he had “abolished boom and bust”. Mason’s book is a forensic examination of how we in the UK came within hours of going bust in October 2008 with all the resulting social consequences that would flow from such a catastrophe. He explains things clearly with straightforward analogies so even a simpleton like me can follow it. A Simpsons episode involving Krusty is invoked to explain the way in which the sub prime market was organised, and once the penny dropped I was just boiling with sheer incredulity that such folly had reached pandemic proportions, and to stir my ire even further Mason describes how, once the US sub prime market when belly up, these heartless, greedy scumbags caused mayhem amongst the world’s poorest and most vulnerable by deliberately and systematically driving commodities prices up so that they could continue to trouser eye watering amounts of dosh. The conclusions are depressing. The trillions of dollars wasted during this period of total insanity mean that any recovery will be slow, painful and last a bloody long time, but at the end of the day when in 2005 the G8 had the chance to end World Poverty they baulked and the reason the jibed then is because the nature of how the boom was created, on the backs of the poor and vulnerable meant they were never, Tony Blair excepted, going to help those who made the extreme wealth created possible. Low wages, high productivity and life run by credit made the boom. Raise them out of poverty and profits fall. Can’t have that can we? Capitalism is the least worst system. Because of human nature pure Socialism will always end up like the USSR so what’s the alternative? I would like to think that this crisis might make Governments around the world realise that the opportunity to reform the system (better regulation, having the tax payer represented on the boards, bringing an ethical dimension of finance) is here. But in fact now the Banks realise that Government will never let them fail, the potential for un fettered madness in the future is actually more, not less likely. Mason is no ideologue. He just relates the facts and lets you draw your own conclusions like all the best journalists should. June 22 If This is a Man (1958) by Primo LeviPrimo Levi is a Jew. It is 1944 and Primo Levi is in Auschwitz. Primo Levi is 24 years old. He is a graduate of Turin University. Primo Levi is a chemist. Primo Levi is filthy, tired, hungry and scared for his life. Primo Levi is standing before “Herr Doktor”. This individual has the power of life an death over Primo Levi. Primo Levi is a Jew. “Herr Doktor” is not. “When once again I was a free man I wanted to meet him again, not from a spirit of revenge, but merely from a personal curiosity of the human soul”. This sentence sums up “If This a Man” far more eloquently than any review you can read anywhere on the internet where the phrases “life changing” and “must read” are far too easily bandied about regarding various victim lit. Primo Levi documents what happened to him from the transportation from his native Italy to the death factory until his eventual circuitous return to his homeland. Much has been written about this ghastly episode in human history and I found a savage irony that, as a Yorkshire man my county returned a Holocaust denying scumbag to represent us in the European Parliament on the day that I collected If This is a Man from the library. This book is of the Holocaust but not necessarily about it in my humble view, as the genesis of the processes of hatred and de humanisation are always with us, as the Romanian citizens of a city I know and love, Belfast, are finding out the hard way. June 18 ICC World Twenty 20: England Crash and BurnMr Tait and I spent a fantastic day at the T20 World Cup, this being my first visit to Trent Bridge since it's revamp, and it's a cracking place to watch cricket as the facilities are first class but it doesn't seem to have that stadium feel which is a blight at Headingley.
The draw couldn't have fallen better for us at this Super Eight stage as we got to see both Ireland and England, and although the Irish went down fighting and having a great time, England were predictably dreadful in this form of the game, seeming to freeze with the bat and get all the tactics wrong in other parts of the game.
New Zealand were so short of fit players that Aaron Redmond was called up from Club cricket and Ross Taylor was crocked. Bedecked in my Ireland soccer shirt and a tri colour, lustily belting out Ireland's Call
I informed my bemused, but supportive neighbours in the stands that an upset was on the cards.
Redmond belted 63 of just 30 balls and Ireland were thrashed by 83 runs, but the criac was fierce and the beer (an eyewatering £3.84 a pint with no take ins allowed) flowed so I wasn't too disappointed.
At the break between games people disappeard to the surrounding pubs but we remained where we were doing what we always do; discussing the odds of England actually doing summat at the business end of a Tournament and reminising about the 2005 Ashes Series.
When our fellow spectators returned they were suprised to find a totally irrational and over excited Irishman replaced by a cynical Yorkshireman in an England ODI jersey fearing, and expecting the worst from Collingwood's team. Such are the privileges of dual heritage.
We won the toss and elected, inexpicably to bat. This form of the game and a fresh pitch means that no Captain can predict what a par score is, and given South Africa managed to defend just 130 against India, all logic suggested sticking them in.
Our innings never really got going, and once KP fell to a wonder catch at mid on by van Der Merwe and it became obvious we had no plan how to tackle their spinners, there was only going to be one winner. So it proved as we staggered to 111 and the Proteas knocked the runs off with 8 balls to spare.
Watching Owais Shah was a painful experience as I have rarely seen a more nervous professional sportsman, jumping about in the crease and strangling the bat in his hands. No wonder cramp has bedeviled his career. Generally people get less panic stricken as their cricket career develops. Shah appears to reverse this trend and it has been since he replaced Bell (underwhelmingly) in the Test side that the jitters have set in.
The problem with the T20 team is that guys like Luke Wright and James Foster have simply never faced rapid pace, or indeed mystery spin on the County circuit and are thus easily undone. Strauss and Cook are good cricketers and should be fully involved in the one day side. Conversely Collingwood, a doughty but not very gifted competitor, has found it difficult to improvise.
Until we pick our best cricketers and give up this "specialist" (reality average with both bat and ball) crap which has seen us lift how many World Tournaments again, err none, we will never succeed in the one day arena.
Bonuses from the Tournament however were the outstanding bowling of Swann, Broad but especially Ryan Sidebottom who led the attack with growing maturity, keeping it together when the pressure was really on in the India game and sending it down at a distinctly rapid pace boding well for the Ashes.
My starting 11 in Cardiff would be this; Cook, Strauss+, Bopara, KP, Collingwood, Prior (wk), Broad, Swann, Anderson, Sidebottom, Panesar.
The priority is to take twenty wickets as this batting line up is very strong provided they can hold it together mentally. Cardiff turns, hence Monty's inclusion as the second spinner. Fred needs more time to sort his batting out as he is no longer a starter in either discipline on its own.
The Aussies.... Underestimate them at your peril but with no spinner and having lost Langer, Warne, McGrath and Gilchrist since the 06/07 series they look to be there for the taking.
June 15 Looking for Eric (2009) Dir Ken Loach. CineWorld HullIn the first ten weeks of this year I saw 14 film at the cinema, of which eight I would count as outstanding with two (Milk and The Wrestler) as sensational.
But since Bronson in March we have been scraping around the listings for something to watch, rather than waiting with eager anticipation for this weeks releases.
Fast and Furious, the new Terminator picture and Watchmen were all worth seeing, the first two for the action and the later along with Star Trek were decent enough story wise but some weeks there was really nothing at all to stir the juices.
Why do the studios have such maddening inconsistency of output? I suspect it has to do with when the gongs are given out plus this obsession that once Summer comes the public seem incapable of digesting anything other than block busters.
But within this sea of mediocrity Ken Loach has once again produced an island of wonderfulness.
Loach and screenwriter Paul Laverty have a magnificant body of work and must rate as amongst the greatest film makers this sceptred Isle have ever produced.
All the best elements are present in this touching, funny and sensitive piece where we are party to the often mudane, and occasionally explosive ins and outs of 50 something Eric who is trying to hold it all together despite being a lone step father dealing with unruly teenagers, whilst trying to help his teenage daughter cope with College and motherhood.
His mates at work in the Post Office provide him with some off the wall "support", Jon Henshaw is priceless as a guy with all the best intentions who tries just that bit too hard but when, after smoking his son's spliff the one and only Eric Cantona turns up as Eric's confidante only then does our man start to confront his demons.
All protagonists in the film, including our hero's connection to his beloved daughter's past then experience a swift and shocking brush with real Manchester gang culture life, but a Cantona inspired session of truth and awe produce a denouemnent of bitter sweet comedy.
This is a film bathed in pathos, irony, but ultimatley speaks volumes for the success and humour ordinary people betrayed by 12 years of our Labour Government where because of the obession with Daily Mail Land "the many" live in Arcacia Ave, AnyTown and "the few" live off Cranbrook Ave, North Hull.
June 08 European Elections 2009. Some Positives for the Labour PartyOnly a fool would deny that last nights European Election results were extremely damaging to the Labour Government and its authority.
We have messed up in a number of ways. Firstly by displaying a dithering indecisiveness regarding the economy by wasting an historic opportunity to make the Banks fully accountable to the people they serve by taking overall control in the Boardroom in order to oversee how the vast amounts of our cash was going to be deployed, and secondly through a mendacious smoke and mirrors Budget with its grandstanding 50% tax hike at the top end which won't work, plus a raft of nebulous, catch all "promises" which no one seems able to fathom actually mean in terms of delivering real help.
And most importantly a whole host of Labour MPs including Jacqui Smith, Hoon, Blears, Beckett, McNulty, Purnell and Diana Johnson have displayed a withering contempt for those that they represent via their blatent theft (that's what it is, the "system" didn't sit them down, put the pen in their hand and dictate those claims) of our money. Blears epitomised their over inflated view of themselves. Hefty dollops of hubris borne of being told how bloody marvellous they are for sacrificing careers to represent the Many and Not the Few, lead these people to think they are entitled to trouser a few extra quid on the side due to their sheer wonderfullness and altruism. Pass the sick bag.
The voters delivered their verdict and it is this.
They are totally pissed of with the Labour Government and think we are out of touch and don't care about what happens to them. They see the PLP and the Cabinet writing and speaking to each other and the Westminster Village, and doing little of practical good to get things moving in the economy.
What major Government legislation is going through Parliament at the moment? Lots of talk but no action. What's going on with the Small Business Loan Guarantee Scheme? What measures have been taken to lean on the Banks regarding the flow of credit? What is Darling going to do about all the toxic debt that still remains especially at HBOS and the RBS? Can he guarantee we can sell debt to the markets, and is there a Plan B? What about the Public Sector Pension black hole? Etc, etc....
But Mr and Mrs. Joe(sephine) Public don't fancy the Tories much either.
With the Govenment not so much on its knees as face down in the gutter all they can muster is a pathetic 27% share of the vote, barely more than they achieved last time out.
At the same stage of the Major Administration Labour polled 44%, so Druggie Dave must be demoralised that, despite the situation they are no nearer making a breakthrough that could put him in Downing Street. There is no feel good surge to the Tories. It simply does not exist in the way it did for Tony Blair all those years ago.
And as for the Lib Dems.... Clegg may as well pack up and go home now. Beaten by one of the (currently) un popular Governments in history proves they have nothing to offer as far as the British public are concerned.
I am wholly devastated that Yorkshire returned a BNP member for our great County, but this horrible canker of a Partys vote did NOT significantly increase. There is NO evidence of a rush of votes in the direction of extremism here. The result came from the inability of the main stream Parties to get their voters out. For obvious reasons. It that loss of trust that has put the BNP into the European Parliament and we must address why so many people are so angry with established politics that they voted this way. Don't blame them, or demonise them as being racists, the lazy option. Get it sorted.
This Election provides an opportunity for Gordon Brown to reassert his authority at tonights PLP meeting.
He should tell them that their decadence at having a job for life (450 constituencies will never change hands) , holding the Public in contempt via expenses, back stabbing, plotting and general inertia to the needs of real people has put us in this mess. We do it my way or not at all. Fall in line, remember why you are here and get on with working for your constituents. Together we stand, divided we fall.
The next Election result is in our hands. We can, and must win. If Brown can survive this, he can survive anything. He can take heart from this crisis and move the Labour Party, and the country on by actually carrying through his plans rather than just talking about it.
June 04 James Purnell: Who Do You Think You Are?Decadent.
Whilst the Nation is hurting and with economic meltdown a real possibility in the Autumn when the Treasury may well fail in selling Govenment debt via bonds on the open market, thus either sending us to the IMF or bankruptcy the Labour Government's decision to enter into Civil War and naval gazing intercine conflict just seems a sick betrayal of everything the Party is for.
I realise I was wrong (as usual) about Gordon Brown.
Let him do his job, put personal gain behind was is right for the Country and forget this stupid idea that a period in Opposition would do the left good.
Ask the beneficiaries of doubling of spending on the NHS and education, those who get a hike up from SureStart, the New Deal plus the countless other ways in which we have moved the UK forward if THEY want a Tory Government.
When I was a senior teacher earning bloody good money, I expect I would have been one of those thinking OK, one term out of Office....
But now I rely on expensive treatment to keep me just about going, we are below the poverty line, reliant on benefits and have a kid on free school meals I am terrified of what may happen if the Labour Party is (perhaps deservedly) swept from power.
It's about the vulnerable, remember that Mr. Purnell when you are leading a rump PLP and we are in Opposition but you are getting plaudits from the Guardian for your principles, all too readily trotted out from the opposite side of the House.
May 31 Hull City Season 08/09. Our Best Ever Finish in 105 Years. 17th in The Premier LeaguePlayer of the Season: No contest. Michael Turner. How that fool Joleon Lescott is in front of him in the England pecking order defies belief. Get yersen to Walton Street Mr. Capello.
Goal of the Season: Geovani at the Grove. Why, oh why wasn't I there? oh yeah. Money. And special thanks to Mr. Bastard at the DWP for accusing me of over claiming, and then telling me not to worry about it. Duck ponds, flipping, and Hazel Blears anyone? Shame the little Brazillian striker and part time Bible Basher in Anlaby did bugger all else for 80% of the remainder of the campaign. He has had too many last chances and doesn't do it when the chips are down which, let's face it is most of the time. He, Cousin, Boeteng and should be shown the door.
Opposition Goal of the Season: Lampard's precision chip for Chelsea's opener at Walton Street. I accused him of shinning it at the time. Sorry old chap. But you remain an overpaid, decadent and unpatriotic twerp though.
Best Game (Home): That would have to be Fulham. We showed grit when behind, and no little skill in dominating the second half thus getting our season off to the best possible start. We need to get a grip at home. Three wins and eleven defeats meant we had to rely on Newcastle being complete pants to hang on for another season. Brown needs consistency of selection in the home games, and leave the tinkering for specific situations in away fixtures.
Worst Home Game: Blackburn. Just awful. I really thought that was it. Going down. But we responded by chalking up the flukiest win of this, or any other season at Fulham. And by the way Roy Hodgson deserves to be gonged as Manager of the Season. Only Joe Kinnear in his Wimbledon days has done as well with the resources available.
Worst Away Game Attended: Sunderland. Stadium of Shite and a performance from City consumerate with the surroundings.
"This is the best trip I've ever been on" Hummm. Old Trafford was something else as was being two up at Anfield and seeing myself going mental on MOTD but, strange as it may seem as we lost, the FA Cup Sixth Round tie at Arsenal where we led deservedly for an hour will be the one that sticks in my mind, although I was upset and angry at how everything I respect and love about the Gunners seems to have evaporated into thin air since they left Highbury. That's corporatisation for you. Mr. Hill-Wood went down a great deal in my estimation. Is this the same guy who dished out the punishments in 1990 after the infamous brawl, initiated by United players at Old Trafford, or the man who sacked George Graham to protect the good name of the Club? Cesc Frabregas is a scum bag of the first order, a lier and a thug. I hope Arsenal are proud to have a Captain like that. But it's testament to how far we have come, and how far Arsenal have fallen if Wenger and his Skipper are so riled by the Tigers.
Worst Moment of the Season. Watching on a dodgy internet connection as Brown bollocked the players on the pitch at Eastlands. "Catch yerself on Phillip", as Jim McDonald may have put it whilst watching in the Rovers. But forgive and forget. Brown is on a journey of self discovery (C. Pseuds Corner in Private Eye) just as much as us, and he has done a fantastic job. Let's hope his inner twat is under control a bit more next term.
The more football I watch, the less I understand it and as a result I will be boarding the rollercoaster once again in August, this time with my son as a full time companion. A life time of misery inflicted on him then.
May 28 The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2008) by Moshin Hamid. Declan Moen Springs to MindThis is an excellent novella, and can be read in a couple of hours due to its easy, conversational style prose.
The narrator takes us through his story, one of taking his opportunities as a Pakistani immigrant in New York, his life as a high flyer in business and a strained but intense realtionship with an American girl.
But the winds of 9/11 blow cold in his life and Changez finds himself re evaluating his attitudes to the Society that has given him such wonderful freedom of choice.
I found myself musing on this when I recieved a message in response to my comments about Steve McQueen's masterpiece of film making, Hunger and reflections on the motivations of former good friend turned IRA terrorist Declan Moen.
I replied, asking a number of questions which only someone with intricate knowledge of the case would know. For example I deliberatley mistook Moen's hometown, and the guy corrected me.
He is a former MI5 agent and here are his remarks;
I haven't heard that name for a long time. He was actually from Ballybay not Letterkenny.
Anyway I was the person that ended his short career with PIRA. Sending them to jail without passing go.
They were studing at Coleraine at the time and decided to kill grandfathers and grandchildren by planting a bomb at a football game in Limavady while the RUC football team where playing.
We couldn't let then do that now could we? Deckie and his mate Connor Gilmore got less than what they deserved. If I had my way they wouldn't have got the chance to go to jail.
They were part of an ASU working directly to Northern Command under the command of Sean (Spike) Murray, who by the way is now on a group that decides on which marches go ahead in NI.
The NC ASU's were set up to carry their war to the peaceful areas of NI and were recruited from cleans. People with no connection with republicians and no family that were.
I spent three years undercover at the Uni, infiltrated the unit, then took them down.
In the time that I spent there PIRA had taken over control of the local students union at the Coleraine campus. The used funds and transport to pay for their intel gathering.
They identified police officers living in the triangle and supplied the full students register to PIRA Int.
Declan even got a job working at the Royal golf club to identify officer who played there.
The union offices were used as arms dumps and the bomb they made for the Limavady job was built in the union offices then ferried down to Limavady by bus.
One got away, Davey McAlister. He got across the border, stay in Bray south of Dublin for a few months before PIRA shipped him off to the states. Devasted doesn't even cover it. The bit about the golf club chilled me to the bone.
But, as in The Reluctant Fundamentalist the charcteristics of being weak, insecure, easily led and wanting vaildation appear current and real.
But at the end of the day sometimes you just have to say that people chose a path freely and in so doing are killing their own sense of humanity. By crushing any feelings of revulsion these people are doing the opposite of that great Talmudic saying;
"If any man saves a single life, it is like he saved the entire world".
May 22 Hull City v Manchester United............Survival SundayWhen the fixtures came out in June I remember being pretty satisfied with the exception of having to play Man. Utd. at home on the last day as realistically we would need to get something from the game, a fact that has come to pass.
I was, along with Toon fanatic Mr. Tait, absolutely resolved NOT to end up pacing the room last Saturday with Soccer Saturday and or, some dodgy internet link up to Bolton dictacting my emotions. Thus we arranged to take the kids to the theatre. Upon arrival we were informed that the pivotal member of the cast was sick.
But not as sick (with worry) as I turned out to be as, despite myself I ended up in precisely the scenario outlined above.....
But, a one all draw and a magnificant performance where only that pesky Jaaskalinen prevented City taking all three points.
The Trotters goalie has produced not one,but two saves against us this season which have simply defied the laws of nature and cost us four points in the process.
Nevertheless we can have no complaints over the season, and I for one have enjoyed most of it. The week where we lost to Spurs, made heavy weather of Sheff. Utd in the Cup and crashed against Blackburn, all at Walton Street was the only sustained period where I was truly fed up.
IF WE STAY UP: It will be because we have taken points off every team in this Division so far except Sunderland. Against the bottom three we have taken 11 out of 18 points available, only losing to Boro away. And against the top four we have taken 5 points and scored nine goals including THAT victory at Arsenal plus draws away to Liverpool and Chelsea. And there is the small matter of banging in three goals at World Club champs Manchester United.
IF WE GO DOWN: This will be due to awful form at Walton Street with only three wins, and none since December. Failure to beat teams in the middle of the table has cost us, and a total of just two wins since October (29 games) is just woeful in the extreme. Brown's bollocking of the players in flangrante at Eastlands was a pivotal moment as our ability to play above our natural station was based on sticking together, come what may. The Manager's transfer window activity was poor and his man management of King, Cousin and Geovanni, all vital in the goals for column, has been underwhelming.
But whatever the outcome on Sunday the Club is well on track to be established in the Premier League by 2011, the target set by Mr. Duffen last year, so really this season has been a "free" go in preparation for that. We are solvent and Season Tickets are sold out already meaning that we can either push on in this Division or mount a successful attempt on the Championship (Europe's fourth most important league) summit.
Phil Brown has apologised for the Man City incident and deserves to remain as Boss for the forseeable future as he seems to be the sort of guy who learns from his mistakes.
May 19 The Speaker Resigns.The Beginning, Not the End of Parliamentary ReformMichael Martin fought tooth and nail to prevent the exposition of this Parliament as monumentally, systemically and institutionally corrupt and therefore his resignation should be welcomed.
But Martin should not serve as the sole lightening conductor for what has been going on in our name.
Hundreds of "Honourable Members" have decided, activley, to rob the taxpayer of hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Nick Brown, Labour Chief Whip, has claimed a whopping £18,000 for food, and not even bothered to submit receipts so arrogant is he of his "right" to this money.
Diana Johnson, MP for Hull North a place she visited for the first time when she came up for selection, claimed £1,000 in fees for a design for her house, and her expenses overall are a total disgrace.
In total, she claimed £166,509 in travel expenses and allowances between April 2007 and March 2008 – 2.4 per cent more than the previous year when she submitted returns worth £162,584.
Alan Johnson, her neighbouring MP and senior Cabinet Minister claimed £11,000 the vast majority of which went on rail travel.
Where to now?
1) All Labour MP's to face mandatory re selection.
2) This Parliament to be dissolved and an immediate General Election called.
3) The next Parliament to pass a Reform Bill to include fixed term Parliaments elected by the De Honte PR system, and a fully elected Upper House.
4) All MP's should be subject to recall.
5) Labour Party candidates to be selected by a US style Primary System.
Our current system just doesn't work and we face the biggest crisis in our political system since 1688.
Martin failed to grasp the gravity of where we are at in our busted democracy and he had to go.
May 15 This 2005 Parliament is Beyond Redemption. Dissolution and Immediate General Election Please!"Mistake", (Ed Balls/ Yvette Cooper).
"Dodgy accounting", (Elliot Morley).
"A good job accountancy isn't my main job!" (Jack Straw).
"A oversight". (Hazel Blears).
I have to claim Incapacity and other benefits and am made to feel like a total skank for so doing, but if I "forgot" to mention my pension do you honestly think that the authorities would roll their eyes indulgently and go, "Ooo, what are you like, cup cake. You old scatterbrain!"
Of course not.
Or what if, through overwork, juggling family commitments, looking after the needs of demanding employees, a self employed person messed up a tax return, or God forbid the VAT?
Indulgence? No. Prosecution, loss of home, employess hoyed on the dole? Oh yessity yes.
I admired Hazel Blears immensely and served in a minor role as part of her Deputy leadership bid team, she always struck me as being real, grounded and in politics for the right reasons, given her background in Local Govenment when she could have coined it in with a private law practice.
But she has been sucked into the over self esteem vortex where the Elite tell themselves that they are being "selfless" by opting to enter the House and that they are somehow more worthwile than those high flyers in industry and commerce because they are working for the Many Not The Few.
Hilary Benn and Alan Johnson claim the bare minimum. This is because they believe, as I did, that to work for and on behalf of the people is an honour and a privilege. Dream up the world that you want to live in, try and make it happen and get paid for it. Lucky bastard.
Driving here there and everywhere to represent my NUT colleagues, getting up at 6 am on a freezing Saturday to go and sit in a draughty school hall organising against SATs, tramping the streets for the Labour Party. I loved every minute. (Not).
This is why I am so utterly devastated by the actions of so many of our MP's.
This Parliament, as epitomised by it's woeful Speaker, is completley deviod of authority.
It should be dissolved and a General Election called. That way corrupt incumbants can be ditched by their local Parties of whatever hue, and a fresh start can be made.
And whilst we are at it, the Labour Party's mendacious attempts to talk up the BNP as a means of distraction, are politics taken to the gutter. Stop it, and stop it now. May 14 Hull City 1-2 Stoke City. Ferbrile, Rancid.Strong language warning.
I am lying in a hospital bed in London with a painful cocktail of drugs sluggishly going through a drip in my arm. I do not sleep. But I dream.
Febrile, rancid dreams. Incremental to the morphine intake.
I am at Mass.
I see him.
I see Dr. Fucking Spacehopper Head. Cuntsultant. Makes Anthony Howard look like Orlando Bloom.
He is in the line.
I see him. I see him. See me. Go on look. It wouldn't even register would. Eh? Wouldn't even cause a glimmer on that jowly, pock marked, fuck ugly viz, would it?
"Lord, I am not worthy to receive You".
Smug twat. Name in the newsletter. Mass intentions; "For the People of the Parish".
But only if they come to see you on the BUPA. Only if they pay £150 for you to dispense your wisdom. Your pearls of fucking wisdom. Your pellets of fucking poison for the rest of us though. The ones who. The ones who what? Pay your fucking obscene wages, that's who.
"But only say the word"
I am on my feet, spewing obseneties. Falling, falling, falling forward.
"And I shall be healed".
The gentle Geordie lilt of BBC Five Live's John Murray.
We are playing OK. We have plenty of possesion. Stoke pose no goal threat, but neither do we. A point would be welcome as even if there is a decisive result at St. James' Park on Monday, we could not drop into the bottom three. I can live with that as I still think 36 points will be more than enough.
A corner. The ball pings about, ricochets of the hapless Zayette and Ricardo Fuller is there to snaffle a goal.
I just know that's it. I visualise the scene, imagine Pete and Dave dissecting what has happened and know that Kilbane, Cousin, Boeteng and the other mercenaries will be wondering if there will be owt doing at Wolves next season....
Half time. I dose but am brought back to reality with a sharp burst of pain as the gluey drip, drip of drugs has a blockage as it enters my vein.
I press the alarm. No response. Ten mintues. Excruciating, I begin to drift into desperation. I grasp the sheets in between my teeth. I am drowning, losing it, about to weep with frustration and pain.
A nurse arrives.
"Would you mind licking the piss off this pungently, putrid stinging nettle?", I say. At least that appears to be what this member of the Angelic Profession thinks I have said.
The look passes across her face; "Wot you talkin' 'bout Willis". Yer daft racist I laugh to myself.
The next 20 minutes are expended unjamming the canula from my gummed up vein, and then relocating it. I observe the dried blood stains in the curtain from yesterday.
It could be so much worse.
I could be at the Circle as Jamie Lawrence smashes in what sounds like a goal of the month contender to bury and lingering hopes City may have harboured in this game. Dawson's free kick in injury time is far too little and far too late.
The left back revealed to the Guardian's Louise Taylor that the players had snubbed Phil Brown's offer of a trip to Chester Races. The Boxing Day hangover remains in the dressing room it seems.
Hull City: Myhill, Ricketts, Turner, Zayatte (Geovanni 67), Dawson, Garcia (Mendy 60), Boateng, Kilbane, Barmby, Fagan, Cousin (Manucho 60). Subs Not Used: Duke, Hughes, Halmosi, Marney
Att: 24,932 May 02 Incompetence, Inertia and Hubris. The Labour Government Staggering Towards the Endgame?What a terrible week for the Government. What a terrible week for the Left and what a terrible outlook for the remainder of this Administration.
The MP's expenses fiasco shows a stunning lack of empathy by Gordon Brown, and the PLP in general, for the people they are elected to serve.
McNulty, Hoon and Smith should hang their heads in abject shame as, by squeezing every last drop out of the letter of the law, they are basically giving the two fingered salute to the rest of the population as we struggle with the worst excesses of this Bank led recession.
They can hide all they like behind the "rules" but we are the Labour Party. We are meant to have values. We are meant to put the needs of the many before the few. We are meant to uphold the principles of fairness and decency. We are meant to be transparent. We are meant to be basically straightforward sorts of guys. These are the sorts of things the Labour Party are meant to be "for".
Instead we are left with a mendacious Budget, Ministers who don't give a damn what the Public think of politicians and an Administration that has run out of ideas as Frank Field, when asked about attendence allowance, alluded that there is very little point in turning up at the moment because there is hardly any Government business to deliberate on.
I don't often feel ashamed of this Government or this country, but two mean minded and petty injustices comitted by this Government really stick in my throat.
Firstly the use of the Royal Perogative to deny right of return to the Chagos Islanders so cruelly deported in the 'Sixties to make way for the a massive US base in the Indian Ocean, and secondly the disgraceful treatment of the Ghurkas.
It is not enough to say that we have done better by these soldiers than the Tories. If this is our benchmark for measuring how well we are doing, we may as well give up now.
"The Court of Public Opinion" so beloved by the woeful Harriet Harman is fed up of us, and the turning point for me was the 10p tax decision where Gordon Brown deliberatley set out to stick the boot into the poor to help Daily Mail land without any consideration for those best of British traits, fairness and empathy for the underdog.
His banging of the table at the NEC and shouting, "Show me the pay slips!" exemplified what happens when the same people are at the top for so long.
The majority of people just seem to lose any sense of what goes on in the real world and no matter what lofty motives they have for entering politics, very few remain Alan Johnson or Hilary Benn like, with all their values intact.
There is hope. The spirit of the Nasty Party is still alive and kicking in the Tories and the voters are only turning to them because they have lost faith in us. There is no Blair momentum or enthusiasm behind David Cameron plus the Press do not overwhelmingly endorse him in the way that Blair was annointed as the Chosen One by Murdoch in 1995.
But we have to re new our Democracy, not just for the sake of the Labour Party's electoral chances, but to stem the haemorraging of trust in politics from those under 30 who are deserting the ballot box in droves.
Firstly no MP should serve more than three Parliamentary terms, and individuals should be in the Cabinet or Number Ten for only two terms of Office.
MP's should be subject to re call and their pay, terms and conditions should be set by an fully independent body made up of thirty members of the Public chosen at random from the Electoral Roll.
Two thirds of our law making bodies are unelected. The Upper Chamber should be fully elected, and along with the Commons this should be done using PR and the de Honte system to provide a truly representative Parliament.
The future of our country hangs in the balance as if one dynamic were to change in the economy such as a hike in fuel prices and commodities, or the dreaded failure of Goverment Bonds then Britain faces the abyss and the possibility of sustained Civil unrest.
This may be my cynical head here, but it has occured to me that Brown's idiotic statement "British Jobs for British Workers" staement, plus Harman's shameful attack on Fred the Shred allied to Darling's divisive Budget (the Public Sector pensions protected whilst the small business sector gets shafted on National Insurance) may be a deliberate ploy to spread poison and jealousy. Factor in the inevitable Tory cuts and you have a recipe for it all to kick off once we are out and then Labour stands back and enjoys the spectacle of a busted Tory Government.
The email smearing stuff means to my mind that any low trick is possible as the Labour Party tries to prevent a post 79 style meltdown.
This is why it is vital that the Labour Government takes radical steps to restore shattered public faith in our creaking, outdated and unfair political system which people feel they have no stake in, and is incapable of dealing with the current crisis to any great effect as the whole G20 thing is unravelling into the one of the great smoke and mirrors exercises of modern times.
April 28 Interflora. Beware of Their Website Scam with Shoppers Discount.Co.UkBeing the perfect husband I bought flowers for my wife's birthday in July last year.
I used Interflora as they have a strong brand record as an established and reputable company.
The last bit is now totally discredited.
When you make your purchase the site offers you a voucher to use next time worth a tenner, so I clicked on it.
What it fails to tell you is that by clicking on this link they are signing uou up to a company called Shoppers Discount as a member, with a charge of £8 per month.
I am pretty cagey when dealing with stuff on the internet and there is absolultley no way I would have deliberatley joined such a scheme.
I rang Interflora and was told it was all above board, but the guy said he could see why I was put out which was a strange response.
Normally when you join something on the internet, say cricket forums or lists to be updated on offers, you get an email at least once a month.
I haven't received one single communication from them.
I wonder why? Possibly because I would realise and cancel?
But at the end of the day it's my fault for not reading my credit card bill properly.
Looks like I'm not the only one.....
April 26 Hull City 1-3 Liverpool.... Luck Not The IssueWhen City were third in the table, and on a run of four wins in five games, including back to back victories in North London, luck played no part in it. We were there because we had the best Manager and some of the best players in the Premier League. At least that was the idea…. Now we are slipping inexorably towards the trap door luck, in the fans eyes, is the main reason for our seemingly unstoppable slide down the table. I admit to cursing the rub of the green a good few times yesterday but the real scenario is that we are woefully short of quality where it matters; in the centre of mid field and up front. The first half and hour saw City secure the lions share of momentum going forward but we came no where near seriously working Reina in the Liverpool goal. The visitors were no great shakes, extremely nervous and prone to mix ups in the back four, but Folan’s ponderous approach plus the other City players need to take the extra touch meant we failed to take advantage and score despite oodles of pressure. Michael Turner was, once again absolutely top drawer and he kept Torres down to one chance in an amazing defensive display. He will no longer ply his trade here come next season even if we stay up as it is inevitable and deserved for him to have a crack with a big club. Liverpool’s opener came from a free kick that never was, the second involved handball but if we had better quality players (Geo, Barmby, Boateng and Turner excepted) then luck would never be such a great factor. Caleb Folan stupidly kicked Martin Skirtel and was red carded. There was an argument that we should have been awarded a penalty. It would have been harsh but we shouted for it non the less. Folan walked, eventually. Brown ignored him and said this to the BBC; “ I have no excuses for the sending off. I feel it was justified and it will be dealt with in-house.”Phil Brown deservedly has many critics within football and I cringe on a regular basis at his antics, but he is an honest football man and I feel that certain Managers in the upper echelons of the game could take a leaf from his book and not defend the indefensible on a regular basis. Hull City: Myhill, Ricketts, Zayatte, Turner, Kilbane, Fagan (Mendy 62), Boateng (Manucho 79), Marney, Geovanni, Barmby (Cousin 62), Folan. Att: 24,942 April 22 Budget 09. Underwhelmed.The raising of the upper tax band for the richest 1% will levy a paltry amount of money and may actually cause revenue to fall, as these types will now feel justified in finding more imaginative ways to avoid paying tax at all. This is Darling’s fig leaf when he next stands in front of the PLP, or any other Party meetings appealing to the old prejudices, as this has to be the most underwhelming Budget of recent times. Where is the NEW money? It seems to me that this statement was just a series of re hashed policy announcements jotted down on the back of a fag packet allied to a series of tinkering which don’t actually deliver much. Darling seems on the one hand terrified to upset Daily Mail Land (he could have done something with National Insurance at the top end), but on the other he indulged in grandstanding to the Left with the un enforceable hike on the top few earners who will now take that money overseas. Then there are these idiotic, nebulous catch all statements such as £ 750m investment fund to provide financial support to emerging technologies, £435m extra support for energy efficiency measures for homes, businesses and public places and £405m new funding for low-carbon technology projects.All fantastic sums of money on worthy causes, but where is the detail, how will we know what has been done and measure it’s success? Hot air if you ask me. If he wants to stimulate the economy then abolish tax credits and instead raise child benefit and take millions at the bottom end out of the system by upping the allowances. The savings to the Treasury from the abolition of the incredibly inefficient and bureaucratic tax credit system allied to the scrapping of Trident and ID cards would balance this outlay. We needed to be truly, and accountably radical. We needed to seen to be actually delivering now. We needed to expose the Tories. I fear we have done none of these things and this fiddling whilst Rome burns may cost us the Election. April 21 U2: No Line on the Horizon. Depeche Mode: Songs of the Universe. Listen Free at Spotify.com“My wife’s gone on holiday.” “Jamaica?” “No, she went of her own accord.” “My dog has no nose”. “How does it smell?” “Bloody awful”. "My mother in law is so ugly….” Etc, etc….. ad nauseum for an hour or so from Bono and the boys who make Coldplay look like Laurie Anderson in the inovation stakes. The above only really applies to two tracks from Depeche Mode’s twelfth long player Sounds of the Universe, and that’s being a bit harsh. Jezebel is sung by Martin and sounds like Home (from Ultra), and the lyrics focus on his rather bizarre fixation on religion and deviant sexual practices, a theme which is picked up on the albums closing track, sung by David, Corrupt. Otherwise I rate this as another step back towards Basildon’s finest best music which culminated in the stunningly raw, passionate and actually quite scary lyrically, Songs of Faith and Devotion (1993). Martin L. Gore is right up there in the pantheon of great British songwriters that include Morrissey, Mark E. Smith and Elvis Costello due to his ability to craft wonderfully soulful music allied to brutally honest lyrics about himself and the human condition generally. The album opens with some Fall like sensory deprivation which is spooky when listened to through headphones, but then launches into the reflective In Chains, and is an interesting way to start the record. After four listens the stand out tracks for me are Wrong (the single) with it’s electro rock signature with stunning words which has been crafted by Blur producer Ben Hillier, and Fragile Soul whose opening gambit is almost son of Just Can’t Get Enough and then launches into a delicious soaring guitar riff with a brilliant vocal from David, one of his best yet. Depeche Mode continue to thrive because Martin is prepared to challenge himself, they have a producer who expects nothing but the best and David, instead of relying on rock God status, has developed his vocal range and contributed to the composition side of things. David, Martin and Fletch have a notoriously stormy relationship, but this tension has been channelled into creative energy and the urge to relax in the comfort zone and watch the money come in has truly been baulked. I can’t wait to hear these songs in a live environment, which is a heck of an achievement when, for the most part, fans of our creaking age are just waiting for most bands to cut to the greatest hits bit.
April 19 Sunderland 1-0 Hull City... Punchdrunk But Not DownWe four travelled to the Stadium of Shite (overflowing toilets, a cramped concourse, tight seats and a disabled ramp that could have graced the Krypton Factor) with mixed feelings. A Must Not Lose for us? Definitely. A Must Win? Ho hum… As it turned out we should have claimed victory in this game hands down but stunning profligacy in front of goal means that the gap is down to three, and in a similar vein to the Spurs and Blackburn games in March, back to back fixtures where we would have relied on banking points has resulted in huge disappointment for everyone connected with the Club and the City it represents. The first time I felt real gloom was in the wake of that defeat to Sam Allerdyce’s Rovers side and those same feelings of inevitability are back. Two wins in twenty three games says it all, and one of them was a complete fluke at Fulham. We created by my reckoning EIGHT, count ’em acceptable chances but failed to work the ’keeper once. Not good enough. I want to believe. I want us to pull together. I want to keep cheering. I want to keep enjoying it. I just want one more win. Please? Pretty please? Two points to round off on. Credit to Kieran Richardson. Bernard Mendy had a go at the former England man, pushing his head into the Sunderland mid fielder, but fair play to Richardson. When it was the easy option to go down as if shot, he kept his feet and remonstrated with our Frenchman in a combative, but honest way. Secondly it was great to have my City soul mate back in tandem joining Pete, Conor and myself. Mike Nolan and I spent many days and nights together following the Tigers from the late ‘Seventies onwards, two promotions made it a great time and it was brilliant to have the main man join us and link our past with what I hope is a future consolidating a Premier League place.
Hull City: Myhill, Ricketts, Zayatte, Turner, Dawson, Fagan, Geovanni (Mendy 74), Boateng (Barmby 77), Marney (Folan 68), Kilbane, Manucho. Booked: Turner, Kilbane, Fagan.
Att: 42,855
April 16 Five Minutes of Heaven (2009) by Guy Hibbert BBC iPlayer. Sommers Town (2008) by Shane Meadows SBOAs with everyone that exists in this world of ours, there are certain things that don’t bear contemplation if you wish to retain your sanity. Excepting personal issues for me these things include Hillsborough and the war in Northern Ireland. Having been an observer of the war and its impact on those around me, I perversely find the unpackaging of those events via art a very necessary conduit towards understanding the processes that led to deaths of over 3,000 people and the fracturing of Society that has produced such a dysfunctional set up in the North. Jimmy McGovern’s “Sunday” and Steve McQueen’s recent tour de force “Hunger” are invaluable contributions reflecting on what happened. Both are fact rooted but deeply existential and never lose sight of the human element. Guy Hibbert’s “Omagh” was in a similar vein, but with “Five Minutes of Heaven” he takes a different tack via a fictional “What if…” type scenario. James Nesbitt is absolutely outstanding as the brother of a Catholic man gunned down in cold blood by the UVF during one of the interminable tit for tat spirals that dogged Ulster throughout the war. He is asked to take part in a documentary about the impact of the war where he will meet his brothers Loyalist assassin, played with stunning detached coolness, and ultimately raw hurt by Liam Neeson. The casting is a masterstroke as each man is actually from the opposite community, thus it carries even more conviction as they cross Society and find that the suffering process is the same, just with a different narrative. The anguish of the two men is quite something to behold, and it raises for me that the single most difficult process we have to endure as humans is finding true forgiveness and acknowledging this. I look at the set up in the North and my mind is boggled. McGuiness and Robinson. How can that be? My cynical mind then tells me it’s all about power for these boys. That’s all they ever wanted. Power and above all recognition that they are players. Somebodys. But what about those who were brain washed and manipulated? Declan Moen springs to mind. What’s going on for him? Do I give a shit? Well obviously I do because I wouldn’t be writing about him otherwise. I imagine him in the Neeson role. What would he be after? Pity? Don’t worry about it son, it wasn’t your fault? I will never know but it doesn’t stop me wondering. Hibbert challenges us to let go of the past, not necessarily with forgiveness in tow, but moving on and living life in the here and now. Difficult, but a necessary process in all conflict zones and Hibbert has produced a gem of a piece with a good back story and riveting narrative complete with action sequences to go with the more reflective material. Sommers Town is an uplifting little film from Shane Meadows and an interestingly low key return in the wake of the phenomenal This is England. Shot in black and white with a runtime of just 75 minutes, we see teen runaway Tomo (Thomas Turgoose) form an unlikely friendship with the son of a Polish migrant worker and a French café waitress in the shadow of Kings Cross/ St. Pancras Stations. This is as far from Five Minutes… as you can go in filmmaking as the characters are so engagingly niave and un street wise, and it’s great to see the innocence of child hood portrayed like this in our age of cynicism and the painting of teens as sex mad, drug addled and non spiritual consumers. |
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