Straight To The Point

We can't blame Americans for voting for George Bush - their opinions have been subverted by certain media organisations, who pick and choose who and what to give airtime to. For example, here's a Fox News cameraman being told not to show Ron Paul supporters. It begs the question: Why would Fox care who becomes president?

Just to ensure that there's no confusion that could lead to America (and the world) making the same mistake with Iran as it did with Iraq, allowme to emphasise this:

A British minister has been held at an airport! For 40 minutes!! And it's the second time in two years!!!

It seems that Shahid Malik thinks it's okay for other people the imprisoned without trial (as he voted for), but should an MP be detained for a whole 40 minutes, it's an outrage. He's above us peasants!

It's not been in the news for a while, but it hasn't gone away. The area planted with genetically modified crops in Europe has grown by 77% since last year.

It's that time of year when companies like Lynx pack a deodorant and shower gel into a "gift box" and charge you a couple of quid more than if you bought them seperately, just so people with no imagination have something to buy for presents.

Contrary to what I have been saying all along, it turns out that terrorists are in fact everywhere. Fox news just reported that they even started the wildfires in California!

The military covenant is failing because we're fighting wars that have no relation to the defence of the UK (apart from the fact that the wars have increased our chances of being attacked) , but are perceived (rightly so) as personal crusades by members of the American government, and instigated by lies and half-truths by the UK Government.

Ecuador's leftist President Rafael Correa said Washington must let him open a military base in Miami if the United States wants to keep using an air base on Ecuador's Pacific coast.

Sounds fair. I just hope he doesn't succumb to an "accident" before the American lease expires in 2009.

What is America coming to?

FYI: In America, certain police departments "are allowing their officers to draw blood samples from motorists under suspicion of a DUI/DWI. This takes place on the roadside as opposed to a hospital where there are trained medical professionals. And it’s the officer’s choice, not the driver’s, whether to use a breath or a blood test." Why have some officers chosen a needle over a simple breath test?

I thought we just had Terrorists/Civilians-who-get-in-the-way versus the Coalition of the Mistaken. However, Now it seems we've got Terrorists/Civilians-who-get-in-the-way versus the Coalition versus Blackwater.

Assuming we're supposed to be the Axis of Good, today is a strange day with these two headlines:

* Israeli army orders confiscation of Palestinian land in West Bank

* Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Claims of German Man Who Says He Was Abducted, Tortured by CIA

Soon we'll kill all the vile terrorists and take over the world! And then we'll show them what being good is all about!

Is it capitalism gone even madder? An Orlando man is to face a jury for feeding the homeless.

Islamic workers at Sainsbury’s who object to alcohol on religious grounds are told to raise their hands when encountering any drink at their till so that a colleague can temporarily take their place or scan items for them.

This preceeds news that some Muslim medical students are refusing to attend lectures or answer exam questions on alcohol-related or sexually transmitted diseases because they claim it offends their religious beliefs.

Anyone who reads this blog regularly will know that I'm as anti-muslim as I am any religion. In both of the above cases, Islamic scolars have condemned the action. However, it is happening.

What is the point of the Government having systems in place, that are so difficult or time consuming, they develop other systems to get around the original system? Then we have two systems either working against each other, or the second system providing a lower-cost alternative, but with a lower standard of result.

Here are a few examples of what I'm talking about:-

* We have a justice system, but it's putting too many people in prison, so we've got another system to release people early.

* It takes too long and is too expensive to train new policemen, so a new system of Special Constables has been developed.

* It takes too long and is too expensive to train new teachers, so a new system of Teacher's Assistant has been developed.

* The legal system costs too much for all but the very rich to use, so we have to provide legal aid.

Surely, if the old system isn't working, it should be changed and improved? But the Government can't bring itself to admit that a system isn't working, so we have to go through the whole charade of adding new systems that don't produce the same standard of result.

I would hazard a guess that I am not the only person who has been caught out by companies advertising/quoting a certain price, but then when it comes to paying them, the price has increased by the VAT. Garages and estage agents are typical of this, though it happens across the board. Why do they do this? So they can advertise a lower price, obviously.

But why is VAT so special? Why don't they leave out their employees wages and business rates, and add those when presenting us with the bill? After all, just like these two examples, the customer is not liable for VAT, the supplier is. When I buy something from Tesco, the VAT man doesn't ask me if I've paid the VAT, he asks Tesco. As a customer, I've got nothing to do with paying the VAT.

Companies are being dishonest and deliberately misleading by not quoting the actual price you will pay.

There's always plenty of uproar whenever someone denies that the holocaust occurred. However, in my humble opinion, celebrating the holocaust is far worse.

A holocaust denier is (to put it bluntly) either wrong or stupid and shouldn't be taken seriously. However, someone who actively celebrates the fact that the holocaust took place can only be described as evil. So why is there never an uproar in this case? However, isn't it double-standards that we supposedly won the war to protect our freedom, but in many places it's a crime to think the holocaust never occurred?

Not entirely unrelated, you may find this interesting - a Nazi pop duo that sings songs celebrating Hitler and his ideas.