Evidence based medicine

The Left finds something else to tax. Others will fisk this statist outrage far better than I, but I was struck most by this statement:

Dr David Walker, a GP in Lanarkshire, said many people eat their entire daily calorie requirement in chocolate, on top of their normal meals.

"Many" is meaningless. Is it ten? A thousand? One percent of the population? He wants to impose a nationwide tax because he has a feeling that 'many' people are stuffing their faces with chocolate. Personally, I prefer an independent study with verifiable results. Unusually for the BBC, they allowed a single dissenting voice, though they were at pains to point out her industry connection, twice. When a source is favoured by the BBC, they are simply labelled "an expert".

Anyway, as another commenter said - "there goes the womens vote!".

Gun control works

Apparently.

If this was in America, the article would be accompanied by some lobbyist from a fake charity saying lax gun controls were responsible. Germany has very tight gun control laws, hence the perfunctory and almost embarassed report.

Little Brother, endorsed

Put aside for a moment your revulsion at the people prosecuted here. Yes, your first impression (and probably further ones, too) is that these are the sort of neighbours you'd move to Somalia to avoid.

Instead, read with horror the remarks of the judge:

Deputy District Judge Alan Fowler said the CCTV cameras, which had been pointed into the couple's back garden by the four neighbours, did invade their privacy but they were entitled to do this by law as they were detecting a crime.

Is behaving "very odd" a crime? Is simulating sex on your own property a crime? Vulgar, of course, but a crime? Every television executive in Britain should be arrested, they broadcast far worse.

But the coup de grace...you can set up CCTV cameras to monitor the private property of your neighbours if you are 'detecting a crime'. Of course, as Labour have introduced about one million new laws, there's a fair bet that you will catch someone doing something.

So, incredibly, it is now legal and permissible to film the private lives of your neighbours. The State is happy as it gets a cadre of willing spies and informants, and it is only a short step from private monitoring to State monitoring.

Communism sidles closer

Comrade Harperson pronounces judgement.

This is typically New Labour, in that they always choose an extreme target as a shield for extending their illiberal rule. Godwin is, obviously, a useless greedy failure who is feathering an enormous nest when he should be broke, if the Market was truly allowed to perform. However, he has a contract and the f*cking government approved it, so that is that.

Anyway, how sinister is this line from the Harpy?

The sum was unacceptable in "the court of public opinion"

Is that the one which used to be called Bow Street Magistrates court, I wonder? What, it isn't actually a real court? Funny how you can despise populism one minute, and tearfully wave the tattered populist flag the next. She'll be saying that he is "an enemy of the people" next.

What the Government wants to do is to break a contract unilaterally and steal a legally agreed pension. If they can do that to this c*nt, they can do it to you as well. After all, they need the cash, don't they?

EU recommends more power for the EU

BBC reports it as a good idea (i.e. no contrary points of view allowed). Obviously, given the previous track record of the EU, this will be a tremendous success, and it certainly wouldn't be used by the French and Germans to legislate the City out of existence to benefit their own financial centres, of course not.

While the BBC liberally smears scare quotes over any proposal or phrase it is suspicious of, it reports an EU body calling for an EU power grab without even raising an eyebrow. Nor does it point out the truism that the further away a supervisory body is, the less accountable it is.

Still, it's another step on the way to political union, and that's good enough for the BBC.

It is called 'printing money'

The BBC manage to publish a government press release without mentioning what it will do, which is merely print money.

Quantitative easing effectively allows the central bank to write cheques to banks in exchange for assets.

The BBC are using the word'effectively' in the sense of "it means the same as" rather than doing something effectively. They key phrase, though, is "in exchange for assets".

What assets are these? My guess is that they will be the tarpaper shack of Mr and Mrs Hillbilly, Esq. of Tenessee, last valued at $740,000 but whose true value is probably around $59.99. Our savvy and bold government will give the banks $1m of loans in exchange for this asset, because they haven't got a fucking clue what they are doing. Oh, and also because it isn't their money.

Brass neck of the year

Branson gives his views to his panting, adoring public. No bail-outs, but £1.4bn of subsidy just isn't quite enough for the entrepreneurial genius.

Scottish cash for Scottish dogs

A tremendous illustration of the lunacy of single-issue groups. Emotive and ludicrous over-reaction of the year is awarded for this statement:

"It's time the RSPCA stopped stealing food from the mouths of Scotland's defenceless animals."

Those English bastards!

OK, we'll stop "raising awareness" north of the border, but at the same time we'll stop paying subsidies so that Scottish dogs can lounge around all day swigging McEwan's lager and watching daytime tele. OK?

Obligatory snow pic

River scene in Verulam Park.

Umm...

Congratulations on her one-woman campaign to give environmentalists appoplexy, but this line struck me:

her daughter already has six young children and never expected fertility treatment she had received would result in eight more babies.

Er...if you have six kids already why on earth would you need fertility treatment?

The woman's husband is expected to return to Iraq where he works as a contractor.

"Flee to Iraq" is probably a closer description.

Nuclear humbug

The natives are getting restless. Normally the response from Labour would be to shrilly denounce them as racists, but they feel the chill wind of political mortality and thus are trimming their sails. After a decade of mass, uncontrolled immigration to undercut native labour, it takes incredible chutzpah for Hilary Benn to come out with this gem:

Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said the angry workers were "entitled to an answer".

An answer to what? Why Labour kept a million natives on the dole while foreigners undercut their wages?

Politicians - does anyone not utterly despise them?

CLICK! Goes the ratchet

The health fascists are circling their waggons around the last few people daring enough to drink alcohol in Britain today.

It is legal for parents to give a child over five alcohol in the home and the guidance is not expected to become law.

Yet. This is a typical tactic, announcing 'guidance' which quickly becomes dictat. Of course, the fake charities are delighted:

The easy availability of alcohol at pocket money prices is far more important.

An absurd statement. Alcohol is not available at 'pocket money prices', not unless you are the son of a metropolitan high-earning 'liberal' anyway.

There is serious harm that can come to children if they drink and the main advice is that childhood should be an alcohol-free time. Certainly under the age of 15 there are serious risks.

The French don't seem to have these problems. They give young children watered wine from an early age. Usually the Left is keen to push the virtues of France upon us; curiously they chose not to in this instance.

It is yet another turn of the ratchet from the kill-joy puritans.

Best edercated genurasion in histury

Click.

Why anyone should be surprised, after nearly twelve years of Socialism and nearly forty years of comprehensive education is a mystery.

Military procurement

Rockets, guns and ammunition don't come cheap these days. Much, if not most, of this money will end up in the hands of Hamas. The UN are happy for Hamas to use their property as launch pads for rocket attacks against Israeli civilians, do you really think they are going to baulk at passing on the cash?

There's never a Blears around when you need one

A short while ago, we had the toxic dwarf Hazel Blears bleating about how trust in politicians was declining, and that it was the fault of bloggers who unfairly tarnished its image.

Well, Hazel, still blaming the bloggers? What about this? Or this?

Perhaps it is that ol' victim culture again. You know, the one where favoured minorities commit criminal acts up to and including murder because they are 'oppressed' in some way. Those shadowy and oppressive bloggers are forcing Labour peers to accept bribes! That's it!

Frankenfood, anyone?

Wide-eyed innocent that I am, I assumed that if the Left was against genetically modified food then they would be against genetically modified humans as well. Foolish boy.

I made the remark several years ago (in those dark pre-internet days) - the Left only supported stem-cell research because Bush opposed it. Prior to this you couldn't move without a Guardian journalist warning about 'super-humans' abolishing trade union rights, or something. But George Junior comes out and opposes stem cell research for ludicrous reasons of principle (religion, or something), and suddenly we are no longer at war with Eastasia, but with Eurasia.

One wonders - if Bush had expressed his loathing for a genetically modified spud, would we have cured hunger in Africa by now? If Georgie had laid a friendly arm around the shoulder of Osama B-L, would the New York Times now be calling for even tougher bombing of Tora Bora?

The Left has for decades defined itself by who it opposes, not by what it believes. Stem cell research is just another marker on that long trail.

Why bother to vote?

Call me Dave wants the Conservatives to be indistinguishable from the other set of tossers currently ruining the country.

Despite the economic downturn, it should focus on promoting fairness, protecting the environment and maintaining public safety, he added.

It is incredible that with the economy already contracting by 1.5% this year, and likely to reach 4% by the end, our political class is still intent on hobbling it even further with the consequences of ludicrous and unilateral environmental policies. Of course, Call me Dave was talking to Demos, the quintissential political class group. The public can just fuck right off.

Mr Cameron also warned against too much state interference.

You can have more progressive liberalism, Dave, or you can have less state interference. The absolute essence of progressive liberalism IS state interference - they believe they know how to run your life better than you do, and they use the power of the state to impose their whim. If you really believe you can have both, you either don't understand progressive liberalism, or you are mad.

The economic crisis should bring people together not divide them, he said.

Perhaps we could all sing a song. Really, what is he going on about here?

This recession doesn't vindicate big government; it hammers the final nail in its coffin.

That's why you want more of it - more imposition of 'fairness'; more environmental controls; no doubt more state fascist nannying of drinking and smoking.

Until Call me Dave comes clean and chooses one or the other, I will simply see him as Gordon Brown without the winning personality. Good luck getting the Guardianistas to vote for you, Dave.

Liberalism, defined

The sort of mindset which shies away from making any moral judgements on ideological grounds will inevitably come up with an abomination such as this. Terrorists treated in precisely the same way as their innocent victims. Still, I'm amazed it is that even handed - I would have expected the killers to get a premium.

Obesity in childhood

No, don't panic, I haven't gone all Guardian and started wringing my hands about the fact that apparently 99% of all British children are now morbidly obese. No, I was struck by this entry over at Julia's blog.

Of course it is an outrage, but one point I wanted to add - doesn't this absolutely epitomise how the Western state infantilises people to the point where adults are incapable of realising that their behaviour is going to kill them, and have to be induced instead with extra pocket money? Childhood now lasts from birth until (early) death.

One small, cynical part of me believes that nearly all public spending is deliberately designed to piss off taxpayers, a sort of abuse of power by the state. Stories like this tend to reinforce that idea. The idea that in the beginnings of this century's own Great Depression the state is taxing people already in financial trouble to get other fat greedy bastards to stop cramming their face is enough to make your average tax payer drop dead from apoplexy.

It's not all bad news

Here. Hopefully it will result in a few less Saudi-funded 'think tanks' in the West, acting as 'culture launderers' for extremist Islam.