CALEDONIAN COMMENT

The UK Ministry of Defence has revealed that the use of an RAF Chinook helicopter by Prince William ( pictured above, with girlfriend Kate Middleton and his chopper ) to attend his cousin’s stag party on the Isle of Wight in April cost the taxpayer £8,716 . In all, the 5 “training” flights performed by the Prince on or around that time, including a trip to Kate’s parents’ home, cost over £50,000 . Not only are these expensive, arrogant, self-serving journeys inappropriate in a time of economic stringency – they’re also an insult to our hard-pressed servicemen in Afghanistan and Iraq who are short of Chinook helicopters . Prince William should be billed for the whole amount – and told it’s NOT coming out of the public purse . And if he refuses to pay for these disgraceful juvenile jaunts he should receive a dishonourable discharge from the forces .

The 11th African Union Summit is currently taking place at Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt . The Zimbabwean “President” Robert Mugabe ( pictured above at the summit ) has rushed there right after his sham inauguration to try and attain international ( or at least African ) acceptability by default, hoping to play on the racist sentimentality and undemocratic solidarity of many of his fellow African despots . And he’s got grounds for optimism . The theme of the conference is “Meeting the Millenium Development Goals on Water and Sanitation” . As a first step, they should flush Mugabe down the toilet bowl of history . But of course they won’t, because too many of the attendees are themselves vulnerable to the notion of democracy . When are our politicians going to stop fawning over these tin-pot African dictators just because they’re non-white and start telling it like it is ?

The 3rd annual Loews Coronado Bay Surfing Resort Surf Dog Competition ( above ) has just taken place at Imperial Beach in California . Over 60 canine competitors took part at the San Diego resort, with competitions for small dogs, large dogs and dog/owner teams . “TJ” the Spanish Spaniel, ”Stoli” the Black Labrador and “Zoey ( plus owners)” the Jack Russell won the competitions respectively . It’s well known of course that the British are mad about their pets but it seems the Americans are almost as insane as we are !

If you want evidence that the UK is going down the tubes, read on . The picture above shows 2 women . On the left is Bushra Noah, a Muslim . On the right is Sarah Desrosiers, owner of a London hairdressing salon . Now Bushra applied for a job in Sarah’s salon last year, but wasn’t appointed . Bushra claimed that this was because of religious discrimination . Sarah said her salon showcased hair styles and needed its employees to do the same . So, reasonably enough, maybe an employee wearing a headscarf all the time wasn’t a great help ?  Anyway, an Employment Tribunal has now found that Bushra had been “badly upset” by her 15 minute interview, was subject to “indirect discrimination”, and had her “feelings injured” so much that Sarah has been ordered to pay her £4,000 . Political bloody correctness yet again . Oh and by the way, I wonder if in its eagerness to appease and compensate the Tribunal even bothered to find out if Bushra was a crap hairdresser or not ? I somehow doubt it . It seems that in the UK any Muslim denied employment or promotion, whether a hairdresser or an assistant Chief Constable, is bleating on about racism and/or religious intolerance . They have to learn that equality means you fail sometimes . And maybe they should practice what they preach, because I don’t recall seeing many non-asian faces working in balti restaurants, pakistani corner shops, asian warehouses or mosques .

It was great to see fellow Scot Andy Murray ( above ) win his match at Wimbledon last night . His thrilling 5-7, 3-6, 7-6, 6-2, 6-4 win over the Frenchman Richard Gasquet was great entertainment . And what’s his reward for that victory ? Andy now has to face Rafael Nadal ! It certainly doesn’t get any easier, does it ?

It’s reported that US intelligence agencies, notably the CIA ( above ) are to be give access to confidential information on UK citizens . Under a new agreement between the US and the EU, American authorities will gain information on British individuals’ bank accounts, travel plans, health records, e-mails and even sites they visit on the internet . If we had a government worthy of the name we would tell the CIA to sod off . And the bloody EU .

And let’s finish on an “Aaaah!”  moment with a bit of good news . Meet Blueberry Muffin ( above ), a tiny 15-week old foal who was stolen from a field in Monkton Deverill, Wiltshire, UK . The miniature colt was snatched last week and it was certain he was going to die, because he wasn’t yet weaned and without his mother’s milk death was certain . His owners made an emotional appeal on local TV and radio and sure enough, the thieves returned the colt unharmed to his mother . And they managed to do it in broad daylight without being seen . So whoever the thieves were – good job !

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 1st, 2008 at 12:19 am and is filed under Daily Posts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.