CALEDONIAN COMMENT

In the UK a senior Scotland Yard police officer has been found guilty of threatening and falsely arresting a man in a petty dispute over money. Commander Ali Dizaei (pictured above in smug mode prior to his conviction), a leading anti-racism activist and former president of the National Black Police Association, was convicted by a jury of misconduct in a public office and perverting the course of justice after less than 3 hours deliberation. The head of the Independent Police Complaints Commission, which investigated the case against Dizaei, said he had “behaved like a bully” and was “a criminal in uniform”.

Media reports suggest that the conviction will “almost certainly” end Dizaei’s 24-year career in the police. Damn right it should – there should be no “almost certainly” about it. If it wasn’t for the puerile political correctness which indulges some Muslims in high office, we’d be talking about a lengthy jail sentence too rather than the paltry 4 years he got. And it’s high time we stopped indulging all the nonsense over “anti-racism activism” and “Black Police Associations” and started treating such things as we would “racism activism” and White Police Associations”. And we must end the current farcical scenario where political correctness can lead us to situations where an over-promoted thug who embraces trendy causes can flout the law and people are scared to protest for fear of being accused of racism.

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More politically correct nonsense. Britain’s first Asian judge has called for Sikhs to be allowed to wear their ceremonial daggers to school. The comments by Sir Mota Singh QC (pictured above, centre), come after a number of cases of Sikhs being banned from wearing the daggers – known as kirpans – and other religious artefacts in schools, colleges and workplaces. “Not allowing someone who is baptised to wear a kirpan is not right,” Singh told the BBC Asian Network. “I see no objection to a young Sikh girl or boy, who has been baptised, being allowed to wear their kirpan if that’s what they want to do.” Well sorry Your Honour but I can see an objection – it’s called carrying an offensive weapon and it’s against the law. And if a judge can’t uphold the law he should resign or be fired.

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Cherie Blair (pictured above, doing yet another of her woeful impersonations of Michael Jackson in drag) could be given a seat in the House of Lords as “Baroness Blair” if her supporters get their way. It has emerged that moves are afoot to make her the first former Prime Ministerial wife since Clementine Churchill to be created a Baroness in her own right. Mrs Blair would have the chance to make laws on behalf of the British people. Her allies say she deserves the honour in recognition of her charity work, her record as a leading lawyer, and her decade in Number 10 Downing Street. What effin’ planet are these “allies” and “supporters” on ? She should be working in the Hague, defending her husband Tony as he stands trial at the International War Crimes Tribunal, not lording it over a population that can’t stand her.

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Iranian “President”  Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (pictured above, wearing protective goggles) has raised the stakes once more in Iran’s nuclear stand-off with the West, publicly instructing his officials on state television to start upgrading the country’s stockpiles of uranium to a 20%enrichment level.  His officials said they would start the work tomorrow. The British Foreign Office swiftly issued a statement warning that were Iran to take such action it would instantly be in additional violation of 5 United Nations Security Council resolutions. Much more to the point – and much more serious for Mad Mahmoud – that Israeli air strike gets closer and closer ………………………..

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Northern Ireland’s political leaders have reportedly been rewarded with the promise of a new US investment programme after closing a historic deal last week which saved power sharing. UK Prime Minister Gordon “Gormless” Brown (pictured above with upstanding pair DUP cuckold Peter Robinson – husband of adulteress Iris Robinson - and former IRA commander Martin McGuinness of Sinn Fein) and his Irish counterpart, Brian “Biffo” Cowen, flew into Northern Ireland to put their seal of approval on the deal, which will create a Department of Justice, gives Unionists concessions on the issue of Protestant parades and saves the power-sharing executive from collapse. Mr Brown said the achievements over the longest period of unbroken negotiations since the peace process began 16 years ago were “inspirational”.

Yes sure, if inspirational means it’s OK to use taxpayer’s money to bribe armed thugs to stand down, to appease terrorists by saying you want their guns then not bother asking for them, to permit gang rule to thrive on both sides of the sectarian divide and then delude yourself that things at ground level are any more integrated or multi-denominational than they were before, not to mention papering over all these cracks with mega-numbers of banknotes disguised as “reward investment”, then sure the “Peace Process” is inspirational. In reality it’s an “Appeasement Process” and a mockery of democracy played out by bigots on all sides who reckon their perks, handouts, foreign travel and never ending ego-trip photo opportunities are marginally better for them rather than a return to violence.

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The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS, above) is set to announce losses of more than £7 billion for 2009 but will still hand out enormous bonuses to its investment bankers. The State-controlled bank, where the British taxpayer owns 84%, is in the final throes of negotiations with the Treasury over its bonus scheme. The talks are expected to conclude within 10 days and it is anticipated that the Treasury will approve a total bonus pool of about £1.3 billion despite the expected losses. You couldn’t make it up. And you have to ask : what would these greedy bankers have to do – or not do -  to persuade this incompetent shower of idiots in the Treasury NOT to grant them their bloody bonuses ?

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Former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s chief spin doctor Alastair Campbell (above left) broke down and seemed close to tears on live television today as he was quizzed about his role in the Iraq war. Mr Campbell suddenly froze in his seat and appeared to be struggling to contain his emotions as he stared blankly at the floor during an interview with the BBC’s Andrew Marr (above right). The political interviewer was asking him about the “dodgy dossier” and whether the ex-PM had misled Parliament over the threat posed by Saddam Hussein when Campbell went into meltdown. Suddenly (apparently) overwhelmed with emotion, Campbell began breathing heavily and seemed to struggle to find any words as a glazed expression fell over his face for several seconds. And now we hear that Gordon Brown, who Campbell is reportedly advising, has recently given an interview to be broadcast next week where HE breaks down. What a coincidence.

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The scientist at the centre of the “climategate” e-mail scandal says he was so traumatised by the global backlash against him that he actually “contemplated suicide”. Professor Phil Jones (pictured above) has reportedly said that he has thought about killing himself  “several times”. In e-mails that were hacked into and seized upon by global-warming sceptics before the Copenhagen climate summit last December, Professor Jones appeared to call upon his colleagues to destroy scientific data rather than release it to people intent on discrediting their work monitoring climate change. Jones says he was unprepared for the scandal: “I am just a scientist. I have no training in PR or dealing with crises.” Interesting remark that, because I always thought it was scientists who told the truth and PR people that lied. Must be the weather.

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In the UK a secular organisation has made a formal complaint against Cherie Blair (pictured above, giving perhaps the worst impersonation of Michael Jackson ever seen) after she spared a violent thug from jail because he was “a religious man”. Shamso Miah, a devout Muslim who had just emerged from Friday prayers at his local Mosque, broke Mohammed Furcan’s jaw in a violent dispute over who was next in line at a bank. Mrs Blair, wife of former Primer Minister Tony Blair and known professionally as Cherie Booth QC, took pity on the defendant while sitting as a judge at Inner London Crown Court and suspended his sentence for 2 years on the basis of his religious belief.

The National Secular Society (NSS) described her decision as “discriminatory and unjust.” Mr Terry Sanderson, President of the NSS said: “This seems to indicate that she would not have treated a non-religious person with the same latitude.” In a statement on the NSS official website, Mr Sanderson added: “What would have happened if the accused had been an atheist ? Would Mrs Blair/Booth have refused to suspend the sentence on the grounds that non-believers have no guiding principles that tell them that smashing people in the face for no good reason is not the right thing to do ? This is a very worrying case of discrimination that appears to show that religious people get different treatment in Cherie Blair’s court.” Damn right it is. It really is high time the government stepped in and stopped all this nonsensical thinking which somehow excuses crime if the culprit starts praying or is facing Mecca as he stabs you.

And of course the logical conclusion to this crazy piece of religious inanity will be when Islamic militants convicted of murdering people by bombing trains, planes and automobiles are spared jail because of their religious beliefs. And it’s very likely that Mrs Blair would wish to extend this kind of banal stupidity to other faiths, not least to her husband who would in her eyes doubtless be excused from being charged and convicted at the International War Crimes Tribunal at the Hague due to his recent conversion to Roman Catholicism.

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When he was Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown (pictured above with the troops) reportedly demanded “immediate and deep cuts” to military spending only 6 months after the invasion of Iraq, it was alleged yesterday. Mr Brown wrote to the then Prime Minister Tony Blair on September 26, 2003, forbidding the Ministry of Defence from switching resources to the front line. His decision forced defence chiefs to slash £800 million from their budgets, including future spending on helicopters, which they claim is still to this day hampering operations in Afghanistan. That record of penny pinching doesn’t exactly inspire any confidence in the outcome of the forthcoming defence spending review.

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The head of the UN’s climate change body is under pressure to resign after one of his strongest allies in the environmental movement said his judgment was flawed and called for a new leader to “restore confidence” in climatic science. Dr Rajendra Pachauri (pictured above), the Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), has said that he will remain in post for another 4 years despite having failed to act on a serious error in the Panel’s 2007 report with regard to claims about Himalayan glaciers disappearing in 30 years. After the farce of the Copenhagen Summit, I’ve got a better idea – never mind firing Mr Pachauri – just disband the whole IPCC and be done with it.

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Residents in Devon have been left furious were left furious after the Royal Mail refused to deliver letters to homes on a cobbled street – because of health and safety fears. Residents in the 280-year-old lane (pictured above) have been told that the uneven paving is too dangerous for post workers to walk on – particularly when it is wet or icy. Problems began when the regular postman told homeowners it was “unsafe” for him to deliver letters to Bilton Terrace in Bideford, Devon. His bosses at the Royal Mail have now backed him and all the post is being delivered to one home at the bottom of the road -  Bideford’s last cobbled street. You couldn’t make it up. And will these residents now have a reduction in their Council Tax because their environs are “unsafe” ? Don’t hold your breath. Mind you, it will be OK, because they won’t receive the bills !

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Former Hitler Youth and Nazi anti-aircraft gunner Pope Benedict XVI (pictured above) appears to be taking the piss. On the same day that he announced his “state visit” to Britain later this year, the Vatican condemned Britain’s proposed equality laws, complaining that legislation to give women and homosexuals equal rights would “violate natural law”. The Prussian Pontiff launched an unprecedented attack on the human rights policies of UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, claiming that they threatened religious freedom and urging Roman Catholic bishops to fight back with “missionary zeal”. The Archbishop of Westminster, the Most Rev Vincent Nichols, also got into the act, bleating that the new equality legislation as “unjust”. And the Pope urged the 35 Roman Catholic bishops from England and Wales in Rome on a 5-yearly “ad limina” visit to make a united stand against it. He claimed that the proposed equal rights laws threatened “longstanding British traditions” of freedom of speech.

So we one again have the disgraceful spectacle of the Vatican attempting to interfere with the democratic processes in the UK. Whether you agree with the government or not, it IS the democratically elected government. The way to oppose its policies if you feel so inclined is to VOTE against them, not be swayed by the corrupt Roman Catholic church which has no interest – and never has had any interest – in fostering democracy. As for the Pope’s accusation about “violating natural law”, perhaps he might suggest to his bishops that their “missionary zeal” could be better directed at the paedophiles operating within the Roman Catholic church who violate natural law with impunity by means of cruelly sodomising  juveniles. And as for his touching concern about “longstanding British traditions”, well we don’t need lectures from an over the hill Teutonic bigotted hypocrite with a selective memory who not only fosters misogyny and homophobia but also served a Nazi regime which was dedicated to destroying longstanding British traditions. Perhaps it might be better for all concerned if this bloke cancelled his “state visit” and saved us all a lot of grief and expense. Or if he still comes, the National Secular Society (NSS) has launched an online petition demanding that he pays for the trip himself. The link to that petition is at : http://www.secularism.org.uk/petition-the-pm.html

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UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown (pictured above) announced yesterday that he will seek parliamentary approval for a referendum to ditch the first-past-the-post voting system for Westminster elections. Mr Brown said that a switch to the Alternative Vote proportional system could be part of a “new politics” which would restore public trust in Westminster in the wake of last year’s expenses scandal. The introduction – or even the mention of – such a new system might well also ensure that Gordon stays in power via shabby electoral deals with the Liberals, but of course Gordon didn’t mention THAT. Really touching, this sudden commitment by New Labour to a fairer electoral system after only 13 years in power shoving undemocratic politically correct edicts down our throats.

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Clare Short (pictured above), the former UK International Development Secretary, yesterday accused former PM Tony Blair of lying to her and misleading parliament in the build-up to the invasion of Iraq. Ms Short, giving evidence to the Chilcot inquiry into the war, also said that the 2003 conflict had put the world in greater danger of international terrorism. Declassified letters between Short and Blair released yesterday show she believed that invading Iraq without a second UN resolution would be illegal and there was a significant risk of a humanitarian catastrophe. She also told the inquiry that she had a conversation with Blair in 2002 during which he told her that he was not planning for war against Iraq and that the evidence has since revealed that he was not telling the truth at that point. It’s hard to decide which is worse – Blair’s persistent lying in the lead-up to the war or his lack of judgement in appointing a loose-cannon cretin like Clare Short as a Minister in the first place.

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Scientists warned yesterday that a peak in the solar activity (pictured above) due in 2012 could disrupt television and internet networks during the London Olympic Games. Speaking ahead of the launch of NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory next week, mission scientists said that the sun was due to hit a peak in its eleven-year cycle in 2012. “The Olympics could be bang in the middle of a solar maximum,” said Professor Richard Harrison, of the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) in Oxfordshire and a co-investigator on the mission. Good – let’s cancel the Olympics and save ourselves a lot of time, trouble and money.

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