In Memoriam

Cane Him Instead, Then

Yet another deranged mother undermines a school's discipline policy. If she'd brought up her child properly, he wouldn't need to have been shut in a cupboard-sized room until he calmed down.

The school's been forced to apologise. Why? The parents should be the ones apologising to the school. Every moment spent by a teacher disciplining a poorly behaved child, and dealing with whining parents who make excuses for their brats, is time wasted.

If the parents want to pass on the role of disciplining their kids to teachers then teachers need to be allowed to beat misbehaving children. They'll quickly fall into line.

McDonald's Apologises

A reader writes:

"I'm a great fan of McDonald's hamburgers. I know they're full of all kinds of crap but they are, it has to be said, delicious. My only criticism has been that the baps are too small.

Now McDonald's has made it clear it's prepared to allow larger baps in its restaurants, which is great news for all of us."

Hat Tip: Dork.

SNP.ORG.NOTUK

Updating my blogroll on the YBF website, I tried to access the SNP website, which as far as I knew was snp.org.uk. The site was down. So I googled the SNP and, hey presto, found that the website for the party was now snp.org. No more UK in the domain name.

You've gotta love the Jocks. Only too happy to sponge off the rest of the UK when they need the money but keen to denounce the UK when it suits them! What was it I was saying the other day about FIFO?

Redwood's Right - Again

Another excellent solution from John Redwood. Halve interest rates. Cut out waste and undesirable public spending. Sell off public sector assets. Amen!

Climate Change Heresy

More heresy on the closed debate on climate change. And yet everyone knows the world is going to end next Thursday afternoon after polar bears were seen swimming in the Rocky mountains - except the American Physical Society. Clearly they must be being paid by Exxon Mobil or Shell. Maybe Halliburton is behind it all? Or Bushitler?

Or maybe we could just have a calm, reasoned debate on the subject - hey, who knows? Maybe this will get covered fairly on the BBC..?

Hat Tip: Saiful Nazmi.

Management Lesson of the Day

A sales rep, an administration clerk, and the manager are walking to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp.

They rub it and a Genie comes out.

The Genie says, 'I'll give each of you just one wish.'

'Me first! Me first!' says the admin clerk. 'I want to be in the Bahamas, driving a speedboat, without a care in the world.'

Puff! She's gone.

'Me next! Me next!' says the sales rep. 'I want to be in Hawaii, relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endless supply of Pina Coladas and the love of my life.'

Puff! He's gone.

'OK, you're up,' the Genie says to the manager.

The manager says, 'I want those two back in the office after lunch.'

Moral of the story: Always let your boss have the first say.

Hat Tip: Jonathan Stobart.

The credit crunch explained

This is a wry and all-too-true explanation of the credit crunch - in black and white.

So where's the outrage?

The British government has ratified the Lisbon Treaty - despite the challenge of Stuart Wheeler and the Irish "no" vote.

Yet another example of the disconnect between voters and those who govern us.

Management Lesson of the Day

A priest offered a Nun a lift.

She got in and crossed her legs, forcing her gown to reveal a leg.

The priest nearly had an accident.

After controlling the car, he stealthily slid his hand up her leg.

The nun said, 'Father, remember Psalm 129?'

The priest removed his hand. But, changing gears, he let his hand slide up her leg again.
The nun once again said, 'Father, remember Psalm 129?'

The priest apologized 'Sorry sister but the flesh is weak.'

Arriving at the convent, the nun sighed heavily and went on her way.

On his arrival at the church, the priest rushed to look up Psalm 129. It said, 'Go forth and seek, further up, you will find glory.'

Moral of the story: If you are not well informed in your job, you might miss a great opportunity.

Hat Tip: Jonathan Stobart.

McCain v Obama: Superb

PlayPolitical, a superb sister site of ConHome, has this funny video that you must watch:

Send a JibJab Sendables® eCard Today!

So who's allowed to say "n*gger"?

The n-word. It's even worse than the c-word (by which I don't mean "conservative", although that's the c-word that the BBC finds most unacceptable). Jesse Jackson, racist, used the n-word when whining about Obama when he thought the cameras weren't rolling. Apparently he said:

"Barack...he's talking down to black people...telling niggers how to behave".

Why is it acceptable for black people, even ironically, to use the word "nigger" when if a white person were to use the word, whether ironically or otherwise, they are pilloried for doing so? Why is it that Jews can tell anti-semitic jokes? And why is it ok for the Irish to tell anti-Irish jokes? If we live in a truly free society shouldn't we have true freedom of expression? Or is it desirable that some words are off limits for some people but not for others? Is it desirable that all people are equal, but some are more equal than others?

My Nigerian friend, Michael Ehioze-Ediae, argues passionately that the word is being given unnecessary power by those who ban its use among some but who delight in using it themselves. He is right. But as he's black that's easier for him to say than for me. Is that really how we want to live in the 21st century? Cowed into submission by the thought police who permit some people to have freedom but not others?

Jesse Jackson's use of the word "nigger" to describe African-Americans is as offensive as if it were to have emanated from the lips of Bill Clinton or Democratic Senator Robert Byrd (who, as a former member of the Ku Klux Klan probably knows more about racism than anyone else in the Senate). Fox News should play the clip and destroy the reputation of Jesse Jackson, racist, once and for all.

Jackson has spent his life extorting money from corporations and wealthy individuals by using the threat of an accusation of racism. If they give money to causes he supports (and from which he draws a sizeable six figure salary), they're safe - if not, they're decried and often destroyed by Jackson, Al Sharpton and other racist leaders of the self-styled progressive movement (who, in reality, are simply liberal fascists).

Stop dividing the nation

Trevor Phillips is dividing the nation again. Britain's Equality Chief whines that television is "too white". This racially divisive rhetoric does no one any good.

In the 1983 general election the Tories ran a campaign poster featuring a black man. It read: "Labour says he's black; Conservatives say he's British". That sums up perfectly the difference between left and right in Britain as far as I'm concerned. We're colour blind. They're the racists. We want to treat people equally, they want to discriminate. As Lady Thatcher said, talking about class but it equally applies to race or sexuality, the more you talk about it, the more you entrench divisions in people's minds.

What angers me, however, is the way that people such as Trevor Phillips are selective in their research. If analysing things on racial grounds matters so much, why not highlight where blacks are over-represented. Even though blacks account for less than 10% of the population, the Arsenal first-team squad contains considerably more than 10% black faces. Does Phillips complain about the under-representation of whites in the Arsenal first-team squad? Exactly.

Why can't we move on from this divisive rhetoric and instead adopt Martin Luther King's vision instead? He said that he longed for the day people were judged on the content of their character rather than the colour of their skin. Amen to that.

Blaney wins NASCAR

The uber-libertarian, cigar-chomping Andrew Ian Dodge has highlighted that there is another Blaney out there (no, not the republican gun-runner in Ireland - this one is a NASCAR driver)!

Oil price falls thanks to George Bush

...and all the Democrats can do is whine.

Chavs

The Guardian and the Fabian Society are at loggerheads over the word "chav" and whether it is offensive and should be banned. I kid you not.

The economy is nose-diving, crime is rampant and yet the left worry about "hate speech".

Isn't it time to let the grown-ups return to Downing Street?

Hat Tip: Judith Judge.

Worrying about immigration is NOT racist

Worrying about immigration is NOT racist, according to a Labour-dominated parliamentary committee.

Does that mean those of us who have been labelled as racists can now demand an apology for being maligned by the fascist left who use the term "racist" as a way to close down debate?

Thought for the day

Two quotations on the subject of "society":

“...there's no such thing as society. There are individual men and women and there are families. And no government can do anything except through people, and people must look after themselves first. It is our duty to look after ourselves and then, also, to look after our neighbours." - Lady Thatcher.

"Society's needs come before the individual's needs." - Adolf Hitler.

I think that sums up the divide between libertarians and authoritarians nicely, don't you?

Hat Tip: Sarkis G Zeronian.

GITMO: Am I Bovvered?

The BBC spent the first 20 minutes of PM on Radio 4 tonight focusing on the leaked video of the teenage detainee being questionned at Guantanamo Bay. Needless to say the discussion was biased. There was no pro-war contributor.

We're supposed to be outraged. But frankly my dears, I couldn't give a damn. I'd have just dealt with him on the battlefield in Afghanistan, rather than wasting fuel transporting him to Cuba and food on feeding him for the past few years. Tap. Tap. Case closed. Welcome to war.

A message for Nicolas Sarkozy

Monsieur Sarkozy has told the Irish that they will have to vote again on the Lisbon Treaty. Isn't it funny how the EU always tells people who have the temerity to vote "No" that they must vote again but never those who vote "Yes". Denmark, Ireland, France, Holland and Ireland again.

That's the French President's message to the Irish. And here should be their message to him:

ALLEZ VOUS ENCOULEZ!

Sam Coates: ConHome's loss is Cameron's gain

It may have taken him over 24 hours to confirm what Guido had leaked yesterday but ConHome's Editor, Tim Montgomerie, has this evening confirmed that his Deputy Editor, Sam Coates, is leaving ConHome to become part of David Cameron's speech writing team. This makes Sam the first YBF graduate to become entrenched in CCHQ!

In his statement, Tim says that he'll be announcing the recruitment process for Sam's successor tomorrow. In doing so he confirms that this news came out of the blue and no one has been earmarked as Sam's successor yet - a worrying revelation for the future of ConHome (and the soon-to-be-relaunched BritainAndAmerica.com).

UPDATE (9.15pm): For those of you wondering, my invitation to Tim to attend the YBF Summer Party at Mahiki tomorrow night has been ignored. Let the record show that I did try...

Greenpeace: Hypocrites

Greenpeace are hypocrites.

I know, I know. I'm as astonished as you are.

Hat Tip: Conservative Home.

Here's how to help Fritzl

Josef Fritzl wants anti-ageing face cream while in prison (he, before you ask, is definitely someone who SHOULD be in prison!). Here is my suggestion for a product he should be supplied with.

Prison is not always the answer

When the Tories took control of Barnet Council, speed humps were abolished there. Now the Tories running Swindon Council are abolishing speed cameras. This is great news. A series of chicanes is far better at slower down traffic in villages or small towns than a big brother camera. The siren voices are already being heard ("but if it saves just one ickle child...") but the Tories who have the cojones to stand up to the self-styled safety lobby should be backed by every decent driver in Britain.

Today also sees the trailing of new tougher sentences for careless drivers. If you are using a mobile phone and you cause someone's death while you are driving, you will face gaol. This is just about as stupid a notion as gaoling anyone for simply carrying a knife and shows quite how bereft of ideas the government now is. If mobile phones are that dangerous, why even allow drivers to use hands-free kits? Why allow drivers to have car radios - surely they can get distracted by the need to turn the volume up or down, or to change channels? Why not ban passengers as they can be a distraction too?

Losing a loved one in a traffic accident is truly one of the worst things can happen and I don't want to demean that loss. Frankly if a relative of mine were killed in a road accident I'd want the other driver to be hanged, not simply gaoled, and I'd pull the lever myself.

But in the cold light of the day is it really necessary for society to condemn a driver for a momentary lapse that results in the death of another road user to send that driver to gaol? Isn't gaol meant for those who are a persistent risk to society such as burglars, robbers, muggers, rapists, paedophiles and murderers? What will we really gain by gaoling careless drivers apart from even more overcrowded prisons?

Are people scared of Obama jokes?

Decide for yourself here.

Hat Tip: Steve Blanford.

Hillary Clinton: Vice-President?

PoliticalBetting.com has an interesting piece on the Democratic Party's debate over a running mate for Barack Hussein Obama. Mrs Bill Clinton is apparently being considered. Surely this would be a bad move for both Obama and Clinton alike.

While having Clinton on board would give him access to her money, activists and voters (particularly white blue-collar workers in the North East and Mid-West) it would also mean he has to deal with (a) her and (b) her husband. While she might - just might - be able to hold her tongue and do what she's told, the idea that Bill Clinton can be kept on a leash is absurd (unless it is as part of a Max Mosley S&M event).

From Clinton's perspective it's a bad move too. I would expect that if Obama wins, he'll be a two-term President. That takes us to 2016, by when Hillary would be 69 years old. OK, that would still be younger than Reagan or McCain but one wonders whether voters would want to choose a 69 year old woman who would have been Vice-President for the previous 8 years. Her best bet must surely be to keep some powder dry for 2012 - to run as the presumptive nominee if Obama loses to McCain this November or to challenge him if he is as piss-poor as President as many believe he will be.

Obama-Clinton would not be a dream ticket. It would be a nightmare for both of them - and Americans. Still, it might boost McCain's chances..!

Swindon strikes a blow for freedom!

Swindon: a town as uninspiring as Slough. And yet today it has struck a blow for freedom by abolishing speed cameras.

Well done, lads. Yet another reason for the good people of the borough to vote for Justin Tomlinson at the next general election.

Sam Coates leaves Conservative Home

Guido is reporting as an exclusive that Sam Coates, Deputy Editor of Conservative Home, has been appointed as a speechwriter for David Cameron. I am delighted for Sam who, despite his boss' visceral hatred of me, has always kept the channels of communication open. He'll be a great asset for Team Cameron and ought to perhaps work with George Eustice in handling relations between CCHQ and the wider conservative coalition as Sam is very well liked and respected across the movement.

Clearly Sam's departure is not good news for ConHome (which hasn't announced Sam's departure yet on the site - an hour after Guido revealed it). Quite who is now going to fill the position under its Editor, Tim Montgomerie, and act as his right-hand man is unclear. Past attempts at broadening the staff he managed at ConHome were not successful and it'll take a patient man (or woman) to successfully fill the slot.

Or is this now the end of ConHome as Tim moves to Washington DC to concentrate on the pro-American website that is set to replace BritainAndAmerica.com?

UPDATE (4.00pm): PTSD has kicked in. 2 hours on from Guido's exclusive and still nothing on ConHome...

"Bishop" Gene Robinson: Call Me A Cynic...

And lo, it came to pass that "Bishop" Gene Robinson (who presumably would prefer to be called Jean) got his 15 minutes of fame yesterday. On cue, with television cameras present inside and outside the church, a heckler disrupted his sermon in Putney. It gave the liberal media the story the BBC and The Guardian wanted and it gave "Bishop" Robinson a chance to whine about how persecuted gays are in the church - and in society at large - and how he sees his struggle in the same vein as the struggles for female and African-American emancipation.

It may say quite how cynical I've become (having wondered the same when Konni Huq timed her man-handling during the Olympic Torch relay to perfection) that I wondered whether the biker who heckled "Bishop" Robinson might have been a plant, a paid heckler who was tasked with heckling on cue.

The intolerant manner in which "Bishop" Robinson has chosen to conduct himself, and the terms of this debate, highlights quite what a poor example for Christian leadership this man is. Would that the congregation of New Hampshire were led by a man such as the Archbishop of York, the charismatic and visionary John Sentamu, or the Bishop of Rochester, the brave apostate Michael Nazir-Ali.

Gay Drivers

There's a lot of attention at the moment on the vexed question of gay priests - following on from a host of advance for homosexuals such as the equal age of consent, civil partnerships, gay adoption rights and so on. Today's it's gay drivers.

A gay Italian man, Danilo Giufrrida, has won £80,000 in compensation for being told to retake his driving test because of his sexuality. I know Italians like to think of themselves as being macho men but they do kiss each other on meeting so I'm not sure really how macho Italians actually are - and they did surrender almost as meekly as the French in World War II.

Anyway, I cannot particularly see any reason to discriminate against gay drivers. My good friend Iain Dale (who, shocking it may be to some, is (as he says) "a homosexualist") is an avid car fan, single-handedly keeping local Audi dealerships in Kent afloat with his frequent car purchases. This petrol-head is no timid driver either (anyone else who's been in his car when he drives will know what an experience it is)!

Surely the Italian court didn't fear road rage being an issue - a queen bitch-slapping another driver or shrieking and bursting into tears is hardly a menace on the roads! So what possible basis could the Italian court have had for saying Mr Giuffrida couldn't have the same driving licence as other Italian men?

Is McCain even entitled to be President?

John McCain was not born in the United States. He was born overseas while his father, also in the military, was stationed abroad. And yet the US Constitution provides that only natural-born US citizens can become President (which rules out Arnold Schwarzenegger just as it thankfully ruled out Henry Kissinger).

The New York Times has a piece that highlights some research showing that while the law was changed in 1937 to provide for those born on military bases to count as being natural-born US citizens, that law change came after McCain was born in 1843 (or whenever it was).

While the US Senate has affirmed its view that McCain is entitled to become President, one wonders whether the Democrats will challenge McCain's victory in the event he wins in November: after all, a poll this weekend showed McCain and Obama are (somehow) neck and neck. How that must upset The Guardian and the BBC, who delight today in proclaiming that Brits are overwhelmingly pro-Obama (just as they were pro-Kerry and pro-Gore, as if that mattered).

Hat Tip: Jonathan Stobart.

Were we as arrogant as this?

First it was Ed Balls sneering "so what?" at David Cameron when the Tory leader railed against ever higher taxes.

Today it's Hilary Benn, welcoming spiralling petrol prices as it means fewer car journeys and thus saves the planet.

Were the Tories ever as arrogant as this? I recall Norman Lamont's callous phrase that "if it isn't hurting, it isn't working" when referring to punitive interest rates being applied to force down inflation.

And the Bicycling Baronet, Sir George Young (another parliamentary bed-blocker), famously referred to the homeless as the people he steps over when heading home after a night at the opera.

What other examples of arrogance - both Tory and Zanu-Labour - are there?

The United Nations: Time to Say Goodbye

The excellent Melanie Phillips has a great critique of the United Nations in today's Daily Mail. She highlights that the UN is all too often deadlocked (usually thanks to the Chinese and the Russians), over-reliant on US largesse (with other wealthy member states failing to pay their way) and that it all too frequently fails to stand up to tyranny (the latest example being Zimbabwe).

The UN is set to go the same way as its ill-fated predecessor, the League of Nations. The sooner a League of Democracies is formed and the US, the UK and other democratic nations (led by the Anglosphere) leave the UN, the better. One wonders where the crooks, paedophiles and sexual predators that seem to flourish at the UN will go next: probably Brussels.

FIFO

Leading on from my post about knife crime - and the need for the police to actually get off their backsides, put aside their paperwork and politically correct "awareness" training and harass the wannabe gangland scum polluting our neighbourhoods - I then read this about police officers delighting in suing their own forces alleging racial discrimination.

The racist National Black Police Association is behind the claims: is the National White Police Association bringing any claims too? Exactly. How the hell, in this day and age, is an organisation such as the National Black Police Association even able to exist?! It seems to be an excuse for leftist fifth columnists to cause trouble and to advance a political agenda. Its members seem to have little interest in policing.

There's a business maxim that I've always liked: FIFO. Fit In, or F**k Off. It strikes me as one that the police ought to think about applying to those who are obsessed about seeking promotion simply because of their colour rather than on the basis of merit.

Banning knives would be pointless

What will banning the carrying of knifes achieve? And what is defined as "a knife"? Are penknives to be prohibited? Could one be gaoled for carrying a Swiss Army knife? In the current wave of perhaps understandable hysteria about knife-related crime, the reaction from press and politicians alike risks being excessive.

Let us remember the carnage of the Dangerous Dogs Act - another piece of legislation brought through after a press campaign that saw MPs panicked into action. Or the handgun ban brought in after Dunblane. Or the creation of the Criminal Records Bureau and the excessive checks on adults working with children that came in after the Soham murders. Legislation that is rushed through is invariably bad legislation - and the same will be true of the impending change in the law that will see anyone caught carrying a knife being gaoled.

In the US there is a slogan beloved of the gun rights lobby: "Guns Don't Kill People - People Kill People", it reads. The same can be said of knives. Knives don't kill people, people kill people. For if knives are banned, then what? Screwdrivers could be used to stab people. So could pens. Or sharped wood. Or broken glass. Will we then ban them?

The Duke of Edinburgh was attacked in the media back in 1996 for observing that if the Dunblane killings had taken place with a baseball bat, baseball bats would not have been banned. And yet in today's hysteria, one wonders.

The epidemic of stabbings and knife-related deaths, particularly in London, is a reflection of the moral and social decay brought about by the breakdown of family life, the abdication of responsibility and the rights culture that has been fostered by the self-styled progressive left since the 1960s. It has nothing to do with the so-called cult of the individual that leftists love to claim was the thrust of Thatcherism. There are cultural forces at work that need to be fought back against - and wouldn't it be lovely if the Church actually had something to say about all this, instead of being side-tracked by politically correct zealots who want to foist women and gay bishops on the Church. They should be preaching and evangelising in an effort to help combat the societal breakdown that is plaguing the country.

Simply gaoling people who happen to carry a knife including, one presumes, a penknife or a Swiss Army knife, is absurd - and yet it is likely to be what transpires. Yet again it is an excessive response from lawmakers, cowed into submission by an ever more powerful press. The focus of the police should be on the gangs. We all know who the local hoodlums are. If the police spent less time harassing the middle classes and going after easy cases and instead focused on tackling violent crime then we would all benefit. And the police might even find that the public once again began to support them and, hey presto, their demands for higher pay.