Silver Machine

I'm slightly confused as to what Matthew Wright (of TV's 'The Wright Stuff') is doing here.

Ring Of Fire

As promised, Respect supporters and the FBU will be blockading the Bethnal Green Fire Station to stop the removal of a fire engine from the borough.

Tuesday 7th June from 8.30am. See here.

...And Another Rule For Them.

Jeremy Paxman asked Leon Brittan a question on Newsnight tonight; Mr Brittan said it was 'a ridiculous question' that he woudn't answer. Mr Paxman laughed. Lord Brittan QC also laughed.

I sighed, thought of election night and wrote this post.

Work Is Rubbish

I wonder how much it would cost to do a worldwide survey asking the single question:

"Is work, for the most part, a load of rubbish?"

Then I suppose for the great majority the answer would be:

"Work, for the most part, would be better than sifting/living in/eating a load of other peoples rubbish"

Maybe the question should be:

"Is life, for the most part, a load of rubbish?"

I think a resounding "yes" might very well ripple across the globe.

Which seems a real shame.

Pick A Scab, Any Scab

Earlier I vented my anger at Chris Moyles and indeed any 'star' at the BBC crossing the picket line and working today. I think I was right.

He gets his big fat pay cheque every month, while the technicians who earn a tiny percentage of his pay but make his 'shows' possible get fired.

Natasha Kaplinsky didn't even scab.

I tell you who did scab though. The online guy who put my angry email on the BBC website.

Doh.

It Was Gorgeous, George. Again.

If the idiotic nature of the American right needed highlighting anymore today has done it.

What in God's name did they think would be the outcome of letting Galloway take centre stage in front of them and the world? I defy anyone who thinks it was anything less than a fucking masterclass in political speaking.

It really is a joy to watch. Please have a look here.

And I tell you what, shame on supposed radicals like Dennis Skinner. Shouting 'Did she bring Camilla with her' in the Commons today as the Queen arrived isn't the funniest retort, would have been better if shouted while she was actually on her little chair and looks like the bullshit playschool politics that it is.

Especially when George is giving them both barrels in Washington.

Cloud Get You Out Of My Head

The British public are once again looking utterly pathetic as a vocal minority of nitwits grab the headlines. Yesterday they were sitting in the pissing rain watching grown men walk around as 'Stormtroopers', today complaining about the new style weather reports as 'unintelligible'.

They'd like to go back to the old symbol-based report. After one day of the new one. Back to the one where a little cloud represented the whole south-east for example. They seem to be finding it difficult and offensive to have a system that actually looks like the country it's talking about and shows you specifically how the weather will be in each area. (i.e. is much better at doing what it's there to do).

At these moments I despair at the possibility of change in this country. Unless George Lucas or some football team leads it, there'll be no revolutions here. Ever.

In other news...

BBC FiveLive are carrying the Washington Senate Hearing with Galloway live at 14.30. Give 'em hell George.

Hope Kylie gets better soon, but who will replace her at Glastonbury? Surely Iron Maiden are the obvious choice?

I should be so lucky.

Sith The Bed

Really, really, really. I don't care if this one's ok or not. Am I seriously meant to take this crap seriously?

They're doing a Pringles tie-in for christs sake. A tube of crisps becomes a light sabre.

Lucas and Speilberg killed proper film in the 70's and have been raping the corpse for money ever since. Uncle Tom swine. And yes, I do like Jaws and Schlinders List is very moving and the battle scenes in Private Ryan are terrifyingly exhilarating and Duel is great and Empire is dark and blah de blah, before you start your starting.

But I'd much rather have Dennis Hopper, Terry Southern, Bruce Dern, Hal Ashby, Robert Towne, Bob Rafelson, Sidney motherfucking Lumet and the rest of the risk takers, fuck ups, chancers and hit and missers any day of the week. And so would you.

If there was a God, I'd pray to God the CIA don't get Sean Penn. He's seemingly the only one.

And he knobbed Madonna.

Maybe If I Just Start...

...writing, something interesting will pop out. Probably not, but this weeks posts have been of dubious quality; interesting but easy links to stuff you've either read or have no interest in anyway. So here we are. A sunny Sunday afternoon spent reading mostly about Trotskyism on Wikipedia. Did read Tag Henderson's blog again (here), which was just as interesting second time around. Now just sat listening to The Specials version of 'Maggies Farm'. Listened to some Richard Pryor earlier which was also a jolly good thing.

Well, as we can see, stuff has popped out but certainly not anything interesting. Now, if I followed football I'd have had a great afternoon. Still, Top Gear starts again next Sunday so all will be well.

'Tis funny however, that the spell check on this thing not only thinks 'Trotskyism' should be 'tortoise' but doesn't recognise the word 'blog'. Brilliant.

Another

And another article, from Roy Greenslade in The Guardian, here.

George v Washington

Didn't take long did it? Interesting article by Michael Rosen here. Senate report here.

Toynbee Or Not Toynbee

You may have seen a butch of pricks pictured in The Guardian on Monday. More specifically, the pricks that followed Polly Toynbee's suggestion to put pegs on their noses while voting Labour. God help me if I ever find one of these fucking idiots. Thought it might be a good time to for some Phil Ochs:

I cried when they shot Medgar Evers
Tears ran down my spine
I cried when they shot Mr. Kennedy
As though I'd lost a father of mine
But Malcolm X got what was coming
He got what he asked for this time
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

I go to civil rights rallies
And I put down the old D.A.R.
I love Harry and Sidney and Sammy
I hope every colored boy becomes a star
But don't talk about revolution
That's going a little bit too far
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

I cheered when Humphrey was chosen
My faith in the system restored
I'm glad the commies were thrown out
Of the A.F.L. C.I.O. board
I love Puerto Ricans and Negros
As long as they don't move next door
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

The people of old Mississippi
Should all hang their heads in shame
I can't understand how their minds work
What's the matter don't they watch Les Crane?
But if you ask me to bus my children
I hope the cops take down your name
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

I read New Republic and Nation
I've learned to take every view
You know, I've memorized Lerner and Golden
I feel like I'm almost a Jew
But when it comes to times like korea
There's no one more red, white and blue
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

I vote for the democtratic party
They want the U.N. to be strong
I go to all the Pete Seeger concerts
He sure gets me singing those songs
I'll send all the money you ask for
But don't ask me to come on along
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

Once I was young and impulsive
I wore every conceivable pin
Even went to the socialist meetings
Learned all the old union hymns
But I've grown older and wiser
And that's why I'm turning you in
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

HTT Ltd

Nice to see someone read my posts yesterday. David Blunkett has been on the Frost programme this morning. Surprise, surprise, he had a few interesting things to say:

1. The 'listen and learn' strategy was about getting closer to the public as they didn't understand the link between government and all the good things it's done. So it's the public listening and learning not Government; you'll do what you like, we'll learn to like it. Lovely.

2. Solving the pensions crisis was about explaining the situation to the public and then they'd understand that the whole thing will have to change. That'll be cutting state pension then, regardless of what we think.

3. Controlled immigration 'for limited periods' could help fill jobs and fund current pensions. Just to clarify: come to Britain, work for cheap, fuck off back home. Super.

4. Any Labour MPs who opposed these plans or the leadership should get out of the Labour party and should have never run in the first place. This goes for the House of Lords also, who should listen to the electorate. Er, most Labour rebels ran on an 'I'm not for Blair' ticket and you should have abolished the Lords in '97 if you don't want them interfering.

5. Listening to the electorate doesn't follow however when it comes to Respect and George Galloway: "The people of Bethnal Green & Bow voted for him and they're welcome to him." Charming.

Fucking offensive, condescending, hypocritical and with the faint stench of post-9/11 racism.

Welcome to Historic Third Term Limited.

There's not a chance in hell these idiots are going to do anything different at all unless we really force them onto the ropes both inside and outside Westminster.

It Was Gorgeous, George

Well worth reading Galloway's full response to the election here.

Doughnut Follow Me, I'm Lost Too

Is it wrong for me to eat election night leftovers for two days?
Is it wrong to eat doughnuts for supper and breakfast?
(There's 10 and they're about to go off)
Should I listen to Ozzy Osbourne's cover of 'Working Class Hero'?
Is £6.49 really a good price if I have to drink more to feel it?
Should I be sat here on a sunny Saturday afternoon?

The Last Time I'll Say 'Bloodied Nose'

According to his count speech, Tony is obviously deeply humbled by the slashing of his parliamentary majority, the woeful 36% share of the vote and subsequently going to listen hard to the electorate who, although not in the most progressive way possible, did give him a 'bloodied nose'. So what is the first way he's showed this new sensitive side?

By re-appointing David Blunkett to the Cabinet.

Is the man having a fucking laugh? If anything goes to show that behind his 'must listen to the people' bullshit he's actually going to do exactly what he can get away with it's this. Blunkett was the winner of the 'I'll Outdo Michael Howard' award for right-wing nut-nuttiness in the last Parliament let alone the rest of it: we all might want to fuck a tory-boys slightly saucy wife, but we don't fall in love with them. Only right-wing nut-nuts do.

He's also clearly going round the bend.

And he's now in charge of pensions. One of the top five contentious issues of the next few years.

Brilliant.

On the plus side I have discovered 'Old Redwood Finest Canadian Whisky'. Which is great for a number of reasons:

Tastes like Jack when mixed with a cool glass of CocaCola.
It's only 30% volume, so is really like a whisky-lite. Great for breakfast.
It's £6.49 for a 70cl bottle. A alco-bargain by any standard.

So everything's not that bad.

Just A Little Bit

Well, we've learnt so far that the Tories are a mess, Simon Hughes will be waiting stage left for Charlie to 'spend time with his family', the electoral system make no sense (36% of the vote = 60-odd seat majority. Eh?) and Tony is still a twat. And that cheap Cava at 4.30 in the morning is only ok when a Blairite with a 10,000 majority loses their seat to a multi-cultural socialist party that's been around less than 2 years.

Were you still up for Portillo? Forget about it, we were up for Galloway. And fuck postal voting - if every politician spoke with the same conviction, people might get off their backsides and we might have proper elections with turnouts to be proud of. And it wasn't just George:

Salma Yaqoob - 10,498 in Birmingham (27.5% and 2nd place)
Abdul Khaliq Mian - 8,171 in East Ham (20.7% - 2nd)
Lindsey German - 6,039 in West Ham (19.5% - 2nd)
Oliur Rahman got 6,573 in Poplar (17.2% - 3rd)

and a good few more: http://respectcoalition.org/elect/results.php

We'll see what happens now, but East London gives me some hope that we might not spend all our lives with just LAB LIB CON.

It's In The Post

A fine state of affairs regarding Bethnal Green as reported in the Standard today:

'Exposed: Brick Lane's Vote Riggers' by Andrew Gilligan

Back In Black

A new background colour. Ooh wee! Makes it difficult to read but having changed it I really can't be bothered to change it back.

Hope everyone's well. Things pretty good with me.

They're using Alice Coopers 'Elected' on the BBC election coverage trailer. Wish I'd been in that meeting.

Well, really just felt obliged to say hello - but going to head off and watch the re-run of The Hitchikers Guide on BBC2.

Goodnight all...

May Day Greetings

Here's wishing my few frequent visitors and indeed any wayward travellers who may pass this way a very Happy May Day.

A public holiday that stems from pagan ritual and workers rights, is celebrated worldwide and isn't constructed by Clintons Cards or the Pope. Marvelous.

Little baby Jesus. He died for our sins. Midnight Mass...

Give me an £8 minimum wage, Morris Dancing, real ale and a ye olde feast any day.