Britain's New Anthem

I received a very funny video in my mail today. Where it comes from I have no idea, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the British BNP Party is behind it. Considering the situation in the U.K. these days it could well become the nations new national anthem.

If it wasn't so true it would be really funny. Enjoy!

As the saying goes: "Many a true word spoken in jest".

Keep the faith.

Roy

Malware - The Curse of Criminal Fingers

According to the latest reports, there was a huge rise in malware during 2007. Malware, or malicious computer programmes, have been around for a long time, but security companies suggest there was a 500% increase in the number of varients of malicious programmes over the previous year. Who can guess what 2008 will bring. Criminals make 'variants' of malware to try and bypass anti-virus programmes.

AV Test, a software security testing organization, said they had seen 5.49 million unique samples of malicious software in 2007 which is five times more than the 972,606 it saw in 2006. Another firm called Panda Software said the rise represented a 'malware epidemic'.

These programmes are not quite what you and I would call virus's, trojans or spyware and the like, they are used for criminal purposes, and are far more dangerous. Criminals use them to gain access to computers to steal data, financial and personal information, or to access a bank for example, with the intent to steal money. There are also of course the hackers, whose main aim is just to cause mischief.

It is necessary therefore to have a good antivirus programme installed, but according to today's information, the 'epidemic' was caused by criminals who were trying to redesign their software so that it would not be picked up by antivirus programmes. Oops! Food for thought!

What I find so disgusting about the whole affair is how seldom they are caught, and when they are, they get hired by some software company instead of going to jail. These people are without doubt the 'Super-geeks' of the computer world, but dammit, they commit crimes and make the lives of ordinary people miserable. For that they should be punished - severly!

It would seem the law makers only want to punish these people if they break into government computers. What about the rest of us?

There is currently a computer hacker in the U.K. awaiting extradition to the USA for breaking into, among others, US Defence Department computers. He is doing everything he can to avoid the extradition, even going to the Court of Human Rights in The Hague. I hope they turn him down. If convicted in the States he faces 25 years behind bars. But there again, it was government computer systems he hacked into.

If you or I end up being hacked or get a virus, we spend a lot of time getting our computer cleaned up and Windows reloaded, and who knows what data we have lost, and what it has all cost, but no-one gets 'done' for it.

I think I have a solution however. If these people are caught the law should consider amputating their fingers. Have you ever tried typing with your nose or tongue?

May your Windows always be clean!

Roy.

Free Download???

Don't you just hate the duplicity of websites on the Internet. When trolling through them you often come across 'Free Download' with the promise to 'fix your computer problems'.

Guessing what was coming, I went to one that would keep all my drivers up to date. It may do, but free? Not likely. I won't mention the company name, they might sue me!

The promise was there to scan my computer and tell me if any of my drivers are out of date, and the 'free' programme would fix them. So off I go, download the small programme and complete a scan. Fine! Then I am informed that a number of my drivers are not up to date, a fact that could cause me problems. OK fine! Then comes the crunch!

To fix these problems I need to buy the programme!!

I know, they are not blatently lying, because you can download the scan programme for free, but to get it to go past the scan phase you must buy it.

I think it is morally incorrect to inform people they have problems with their computer, with the implication that it can be fixed for free, and then later you must buy the product to fix the problems they found.

I have to say that this company's products are good, I have used them before, but it doesn't sweeten the pill of current marketing practices.

It is sad that today you cannot trust all you see. The methods employed by some people to sell you a product have become so devious, a simple person can easily get hooked into buying something they don't really need. It is a sad statement of our times that in general, people will stoop to any level to get money out of you. They promise you the earth, but in effect it is, to a certain extent, a scam.

There are perhaps hundreds of products on the Internet like this one. I have certainly come across a few. It comes down to one thing. If it says 'Free', you should start thinking of how much it will cost, and alarm bells should immediately start ringing in your head.

Happy surfing!

Roy.

Religious Rights.

Should open-air cremations be allowed in Britain? Some followers of the Hindu religion are pressing for the open-air burning of bodies in accordance with their faith, which is illegal in the United Kingdom.

According to Hindu religious beliefs, the body should be burnt in the open air, allowing the soul freedom to leave the body and be reincarnated. This 4,000 year-old practice is normal in South Asia, but in Britain is banned by the 1930 Cremation Act which restricts the burning of bodies to crematoriums.

Today, The High Court in London is hearing the case of Davender Ghai, a seventy-year-old Hindu. Mr. Ghai has received the backing of the influential UK Hindu Council Organisation and some Hindu temples in the U.K. He is requesting a Judicial Review of the 1930's Law on religious grounds, and in part, on the 1998 Human Rights Act which covers the freedom to practice religious beliefs. In 2006, Mr Ghai was lucky to escape prosecution when he cremated the body of a 31-year-old Sikh man at a secret location in Northumberland. The Crown Prosecution Service decided not to pursue the case against him.

Not all Hindu's agree with Mr. Ghai's assessment however. Jay Lakhani, a member of the Hindu Academy educational body is quoted as saying: "Hindu scriptures should be interpreted judiciously and teaching does allow interpretation in a modern way." He went on further to say: he "could not understand why UK Hindus would want to dispose of bodies in an "antiquated" manner".

While I have great respect for Mr. Ghai and his religious beliefs, I really cannot agree with his proposition. There has to be a limit on the rights of an individual who, of his own free will, is living in someone else's country. There are too many people playing the human rights card these days just to get what they want, and they are usually a minority.

It has always been my firm belief that if you are, what amounts to a guest in someone else's land, you should adapt as far as possible to the laws and traditions of that land. I say this as someone who has lived outside the U.K. since 1972 when I first moved to Holland. I am now a 'Gentleman of Leisure' in Spain. However, I have never asked for anything from either host country, I have always paid my way, and done my best to integrate into that country's culture.

In Spain and many other Catholic countries, it is customary at Easter for processions carrying images of the Virgin Mary and Christ on the Cross to be held in every city, town and village. Imagine trying to do that in a Muslim country like Iran for example (worst case I know)! You would start a riot and be stoned all the way. Such countries do not allow any religious beliefs other than their own. I am almost afraid the Church of England will be disbanded because we might upset the immigrants!

The British have for decades been pampering the minority immigrant population, and in the process have lost their own national identity. I take my hat off to Boris Johnson the Mayor of London who said it is time we English started celebrating St. George's Day, he is after all our Patron Saint. The Irish, Scottish and Welsh do, but for forty years the English haven't because we are afraid to upset some minority groups. What rubbish!

It is time the British learned they are not a multi-cultural society, they are a society of British with a large immigrant population. That is the way every other nation on earth thinks of itself, why not us?

For example, an end must be made to schools struggling to teach classes in foreign languages because they have immigrant pupils. These children will grow up as citizens of Britain, and as such their first language must be English.

An end must also be made trying to make our country fit the ideals and beliefs of immigrants lest we offend them. In my opinion, if you can't fit in, you know where the door is!

Thank God we still have free speech, or is that next on the agenda!!

May your beliefs always be yours.

Roy.

I Thought The U.N. Was Unbiased!

Oh how naive I am! I have just read a report on the BBC from U.N. investigators under the leadership of Sri Lankan lawyer Radhika Coomaraswamy, and to be honest, I am amazed at the one-sided blame-laying she and her team have indulged in.

Before I go any further, let me state quite clearly, I am not on anybodies side and I do not support the actions of one group against another. Having made that clear I will continue.

According to Ms Coomarathingy, on the 15th of January Israeli soldiers used an 11 year-old boy as a human shield by forcing him to walk down streets ahead of them 'for several hours'. This is one of 'hundreds' of such cases reported by her and the U.N. team for the protection of children.

Her report also includes soldiers shooting Palestinian children, and women, bulldozing a house with a woman and child inside, and shelling a building they had ordered civilians to enter. These, she said were just 'a few of the incidents' that had been 'verified' by U.N. officials in the Gaza Strip.

I guess they must have been talking to Hamas fighters, and civilians with a Hamas gun up their backside to get stories like this. The Hamas propaganda machine is very efficient in such situations.

Worthy of note, is the total lack of commentary on war crimes by Hamas, like using human shields, or shooting from homes, except to say it is 'under investigation', which means nothing will ever come of it because it's an everyday occurrence, and anyway, they are such poor defenceless people.

Israeli Ambassador Aharon Leshno Yaar told the U.N's 47-nation Human Rights Council, it was "unable or perhaps unwilling to address attacks against its civilians by Palestinian militants". He further added, "The report claims to examine Israel's actions while it wilfully ignores and downplays the terrorist and other threats we face". He should have added their methods!

An Israeli Military Spokesman dismissed the claims as "inaccurate and politically motivated". It is obvious that excesses have occurred, and the Israeli Military have confessed this and are dealing with it, but that too is the nature of war. It happened in the Second World War with Allied troops also. In war, none of us are 'clean'.

All Muslim terror groups like Hamas know full well that in any conflict, the press love to report in full on civilian casualties, and have made good use of this fact.

Perhaps this will help clear it up for you, published with the kind permission of Osama Bin Laden:

Excerpt from a terrorist training manual: "Wow Achmed! Don't forget, if the cursed Israeli's shoot in your direction, grab the nearest child or woman! Also, don't forget to go into the nearest family home if they start shelling you. That way you will be safe, well maybe not, but we will have great propaganda stories to tell the world press and the U.N. OK?" If it wasn't so serious it would be funny!

Hamas have been using these tactics for years, and yet not one word of condemnation has been seen in the press or from the U.N., not even for the rocket attacks on southern Israel.

I do not condone it, and I do not agree with it, but the thing that sticks in my craw is all the blame is being put on the Israeli's, while groups like Hamas are all lily white.

In my view, if you cannot report these things totally impartially, you can better keep your mouth shut and stay at home. You certainly have no business in this business!

May your dreams be untroubled.

Roy.

Justice Be Damned!

It has been revealed today that Josef Fritzl will serve his sentence in what amounts to a five star hotel. He was jailed for 'life' last week for murder, rape, enslavement, coercion and incest after locking his daughter in his cellar for 24 years, and fathering seven children by her, six of whom survived. Fritzl now gets to choose from three prisons under Austrian law.

His lawyer, Rudolf Mayer, says he will choose Garsten which is a former Benedictine convent converted into a prison. The facility has a gym equipped to the standard of any commercial venue, a choir. and one of the the largest prison libraries in the country. His hobby is reading.

The facility is set in woodland at the foot of the Alps and gives him the opposite of what he gave his daughter and her offspring, fresh air and light.

Although sentenced to 'Life', he will be eligible for parole after only fifteen years, living in conditions that many old age pensioners would give five years of their lives for. Whilst 'inside' he will be given the opportunity to follow many hobbies including tennis, art classes and darts. In fact, he will be living in conditions far superior than those of most working-class families today.

The one overbearing question that comes to mind is: Why? Whatever happened to Justice and the rule of punishment for a crime committed. In the last thirty years, Justice has become so soft that some criminals deliberately commit another crime just to get back 'inside'.

I remember well in the 1960's when Wakefield Prison in England was first opened. After seeing it on the TV News I and my collegues were disgusted, because the prisoners were housed in better conditions than we were in the RAF. In the Forces we were still living twelve to a room with a personal space the size of the bed plus a bit. These prisoners even had curtains on the windows so they would not feel bad if they saw the bars.

Now, in most 'civilised' countries, prisons are more like a five star hotel with everything provided for free, well except to the tax payer of course. Gone for good are the days when a criminal was punished for his crime, now many live in better conditions than they ever did 'outside'.

The 'Do-Goody Brigade' was of the opinion that prisoners should be treated as poor misguided people that need comfort and reassurance with large dollops of luxury to get them back 'on the right track'. Cobblers!!!!

More than half of criminals released early from jail for 'good behavior' go on to re- offend within weeks if not days.

In my opinion, it is time to bring back the 'Cat' for minor offenders, especially those under legal age, and for the rest, the good old chain-gang. There is so much good work these people can be doing for the country instead of working out in the gym, playing pool, reading books and generally lounging about at tax payers expense.

Should the Justice System ever get back to reality and make prison a place to be feared, I am sure people who have been 'inside' will not want to return. Once we resume making the punishment fit the crime the sooner we see a drop in murder, violence, robbery and crime in general.

For someone as heinous as Fritzl to be given such a punishment for his terrible crimes is downright immoral. It is disgusting and depraved. It is doubtful that his daughter, who is now 42, and her six children will ever be able to live a normal life, considering the horrible mental scars they must carry with them.

Referring to my previous Post dated March 15, It would appear that if you defend yourself or your property, or are maimed mentally and/or physically, you get a harsher sentence than the criminal who perpetrated the crime in the first place. Madness!

May your days be untroubled, and your nights serene.

Roy.

A Second Blog - Not For the Faint-Hearted

Today I decided to share the first of my short stories! Wow! Whether it is any good is for you the reader to say. It is about 24 A4 pages, and will take an average time of maybe 10 minutes to read.

It is a hobby I took up after I retired, and gives me pleasure. I hope you have the same reading it.

Please feel free to praise or criticise, I have a thick skin. Criticism will be taken on board, and used to enhance any future efforts on my part.

I hope you enjoy it.

Roy.

The following link will take you there: http://floroy1942a.blogspot.com/

Alternatively, there is a link under 'My Profile'.

Wise or Dogmatic?

What planet does the Pope live on? Certainly not this one! The dogmatic teachings of the Roman Catholic Church have for years been extremely controversial, but I think Pope Benedict's gaff during his African tour has perhaps opened up new levels.

The Catholic Church has never given an inch on the question of birth control in whatever form, but is it now time for that to change? I think so. It is well documented that the greater majority of Catholics use birth control anyway, so why the dogmatism? Surely it must come down to your interpretation of the Scriptures, but there are others more qualified than I to comment on that.

The world is already overpopulated, and a new scientific report out today by the UK Chief Scientific Advisor, Professor John Beddington, states that by 2030 this planet will be in for a 'Perfect Storm'; for this read 'Melt-down'. Why? The growing world population will cause mass-migration as people hunt for food and water.

The following link will allow you to see the full interview on BBC News.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7952348.stm

Now, given this fact, I ask one question: Is it responsible of the Catholic Church to go on preaching against contraception? I think not. Professor Beddington (who may be the new Enoch Powell) has stated publicly that with the world population topping 8.3 billion by 2030, pretty soon it will be 'standing room only' (wars will be fought because someone is standing on your foot!). He estimates there will be a 50% increase in the demand for food and energy, and a 30% increase in demand for water.

As to the statement by Pope Benedict that "contraception does not help combating the AIDS epidemic but makes it worse", I wonder who his scientific advisor is?

He could not have chosen a worse place to make this statement, with Africa having the largest number of AIDS patients on the planet, 22%. To tell these people that condoms do not help in the spread of this disease is grossly irresponsible.

Aid Agencies and governments have been trying for decades to get the African people to use condoms in an effort to prevent the spread of the disease, and when they are starting to see some progress, along comes the Pope to denounce it all. Bah! Balderdash!

Various arms of the global religions have become more and more involved in politics during the last two decades, and I for one wish they would stop. It does not help the world's problems when Pius clergy open their mouths about things of which they have very little understanding.

If the human race is to survive into the next century, drastic measures will have to be taken to halt, and turn back the explosive increase in world population.

A prime example of what it could be like is the Tube Train in London or Tokyo's rush hour. Thousands of people trying to squeeze onto one train until they are so tightly packed they cannot breath properly. (Excuse me! could you give me an extra millimetre so I can have a heart-attack?)

Is this the future of the world? Not really, because before then we will have run out of food and water, and wars will be fought over these commodities.

So what do we do? I can see the kind of birth restrictions currently in place in China being applied world wide, as we fight to maintain a level of population that is sustainable by our planet's resources.

What of the Catholic Church doctrine then? Will it have bowed to the inevitable? I think not because it is so archaic it will take a brave Pope to go against it, and would also admit that this stance has been flawed all along. It will be up to the catholic people themselves to make the judgement, continue the religious beliefs or die as a race.

It may not come to that anyway, because sad to say, at least in the West, religion is slowly dying. With each new generation you find less people who believe in God, and church attendances are falling year by year. This in itself is very sad, because in my generation, while you were not a Saint, religion did put the brakes on some aspects of your behaviour.

Ah! The good old days - I remember them well!!!! Back then you at least had room to fall down when you had a heart-attack!

Keep smiling - it could get better!

Roy

The Law is Mad!

At one time it was oft said "An Englishman's home is his castle" but that was yesterday. If the events currently taking place in Nottingham, England are anything to go by, you can forget the 'castle' bit.

The UK Sunday Telegraph is reporting the story of a 17-year-old burgler, stabbed to death today following a struggle when, after breaking into someone's house in broad daylight, he was caught red-handed. A man of 22 from the house is being questioned by Police on suspicion of murder!

This follows a string of burgleries in the local area for which no-one has yet been caught. I guess the Police can close that file.

The 'victim's' mother apparantly went on a social website thanking supporters of her 'wonderful son'. It makes me wonder how parents can be so blind to the antics of their children. Amazing that even serial killers are someone's 'lovely, innocent child'.

This case will once again raise the debate on whether someone has the right to protect their home from criminals. According to the 'Law of the Land', if someone breaks into your home you are supposed to stand around waiting until they have finished and then call the Police.

You can just imagine the scene:

(sound of breaking glass) Mr. X gets out of his chair and goes to the kitchen to see a thief standing there. "Oh hello" says Mr. X "Are you burgling my house?"

"Yes" replies the thief, "Where are your valuables?". "Oh, they're upstairs in the dressing table drawer, third on the right" replies Mr. X.

Reaching for the kettle, Mr. X asks the thief "Would you like a cup tea while you are ransacking the house?" "Yea! OK" replies the thief, "Milk, with one sugar". Mr. X puts on the kettle and shouts to the thief as he climbs the upstairs, "It'll be ready in a couple of minutes".

Mr. X thinks about calling the Police while the burgler is upstairs, but realises he had better wait until the man finishes or he may get into trouble with the Law himself.

Upstairs, the man starts emptying drawers on the floor, pulls all the clothes out of the closet before turning to the dressing table. "Are you sure it's the third drawer on the right mate?" he yells down stairs. "Yes, quite sure" shouts Mr. X. You should find all my wife's jewellery in there". "Oh by the way, you'll find my wallet in the second drawer" he adds. "OK mate, thanks" replies the thief.

Taking the jewellery boxes and wallet the thief returns downstairs just as Mr. X finishes making the tea. "Ah! Nothing like a good cuppa when you're on the job" he says appreciatively. Taking the tea he sits down at the table and lights a cigarette "You got an ashtray mate" he asks. "Sorry" Mr. X replies, "my wife and I are non-smokers". "Oh" says the thief, suddenly concerned "would you rather I smoke outside then" Mr. X looked thoughtful and replies, "It would be nice if you don't mind. My wife will be home shortly and she has asthma."

With that the burgler steps outside the backdoor and smokes his cigarette. After he finishes both his tea and cigarette he re-enters the house, puts the cup in the sink and asks "are you sure you don't have anymore valuables in the house?" "No I think you have taken just about everything of value we have" replies Mr. X. "OK then, I'll be off. Oh! By the way, would you mind waiting a couple of minutes before you call the cops so I can get away?" says the thief with a broad grin, and then departs.

Mr. X checks his watch and after two minutes dutifully calls the Police.

That I think is the scenario preferred by British Law. This way the Police don't have to arrest anyone for defending their own home, and no nasty habitual criminals get killed. The insurance pays for the stolen items, and apart from everyone's insurance payments going up by 50%, no-one gets hurt.

It is inconceivable that the Crown Prosecution Service would even contemplate arresting someone for defending their own family and property, but they do.

Ask Tony Martin, a Norfolk farmer who in 1999 was charged with murder and sentenced to 'Life', but served 3 years after the charges were reduced to manslaughter on appeal. His crime, he fired a shotgun at youths who had broken into his farmhouse, a 16-year-old boy was killed. One of the boy's accomplices was wounded in the leg.

The 16-year-old and his two accomplices had 100 convictions between them for theft, and the boy was on bail for an offence committed just days before they decided to rob Mr. Martin who lived alone in an isolated farmhouse. An obvious question arises here, why were they free at all?

The really sad thing is, the wounded accomplice, who was jailed for 3 years, sued Mr. Martin for damages and loss of mobility, and almost got a £100,000 compensation payment from Mr. Martin for 'Unlawful Wounding'. He messed it up when he was photographed by a newspaper riding his bike.

He has a string of convictions, and after serving only half of his sentence, he was quickly back inside for stealing a Toyota Landcruiser. The third youngster, who received a sentence of 42 months, is continually in and out of jail.

The boy who died was also an habitual thief despite his age, and guess what! In 2001 his Father was jailed for 14 years for armed robbery. Like Father-like son and they put Tony Martin the victim in jail!!!!! So much for British Justice!

It is time for the Politicians and Law Lords to wake up to the fact EVERYONE HAS THE RIGHT TO DEFEND THEIR FAMILY AND PROPERTY!

Oh well - back to the scenario! Tea or Coffe Sir?

May what is yours, always be yours!

Roy.

The Sadness of Jealousy

Emotions are part of our makeup, without them we would be little more than machines, but how sad when we make more use of the bad ones than the good ones.

My wife and I were staying with our friend Maria who lives in an apartment block within a urbanization on the edge of Salamanca, Spain.

Upon returning from town, all the parking spaces outside were taken except for three across the road so I parked my car in one. My wife, who speaks Spanish, noticed a sign which said they were for disabled people. I decided to leave the car there because there was nowhere else, and as we had a good view from the apartment, I would move it as soon as a spot came free elsewhere.

About thirty minutes later I looked out the window to check the status of the street and saw the car was gone. Oh Great! Just what we needed!

OK! I freely admit I should not have parked there in the first place, but considering the fact that there are hundreds of thousands of these parking spots all over Europe and they are occupied less than 0.5% of the time I didn't think I was doing any harm for the short time I would be there. There were after all still two more vacant slots.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, we had to take two buses to get to the Police Impound Yard, pay the charges and fine to get the car back.

It was later when I thought about it, that the Police and tow truck had been on the scene pretty darned quick to catch us out, and it was not an area frequented by them at all. Then it struck me, some 'kind' person must have called them! Later, when our friend Maria came home, she said she was sure that is what happened.

It got me to thinking. Maria said there are no disabled people living in the area, so it must have been just pure mischief on someones part because they saw a Lexus parked there and were jealous. This didn't make me mad, it just made me feel sad for the individual who was upset because someone had something they didn't, and decided to 'get their own back'. My wife put it perfectly; "There is no need to get mad or even, because when it comes time for those people to stand before their Maker, I am sure He will take this little episode into account." Straight away I agreed.

I really feel sorry for the person or persons responsible, because if they have nothing more interesting to do with their lives than peek through their curtains at the world outside to see if they can 'get even' with individuals who have a life, then they are to be pitied, not scorned.

It is however significant of our times, that individuals with less, are consumed by jealousy for those who have worked hard all there lives and managed to attain a small luxury or two.

They are typified by those who see a nice car, e.g. a BMW, Mercedes, Jaguar or Lexus and run down the side of it with a key or other implement with the sole purpose of causing as much damage, and therefore expense to the unfortunate owner, as possible because he has something they do not. Not everyone who drives a Lexus is rich. Some like myself, have worked hard and saved to buy a nice car for their retirement, so what right do these individuals have to destroy my 'harmony'?

When I was a child, the destructive kind of jealousy you see today was unheard of. Jealousy was around of course, but not so blatant as it is today. The narrow minded attitude, and vicious acts of pure vandalism against those with a little more are intolerable in today's society, but sad to say, it is on the increase day by day.

These days few people are willing to work hard for what they want, save for what they want, and above all, wait for what they want. The cry you hear above all others today is; "I want it NOW!" A good indication of the reason for the current economic crisis where everyone is buying on credit.

Too many today are lazy and disinterested in bettering themselves through serious study or hard work, but still think they are entitled to the same standard of living as those who do.

I believe that everyone is capable of bettering themselves, if they are willing to study to better their qualifications and work hard. The sad thing is, most people just can't be bothered. So long as they have enough money for cigarettes, beer, and their own simple pleasures they are not interested. But it still angers them when someone has more than they do, and it matters not that the individual concerned has perhaps been to night-school, does a hard days work, and saves for the fine things he/she has. The general attitude today is, 'If I can't have it, then neither should you!'.

It is indeed unfortunate that these people must wait until they meet their Maker before action is taken against them, for in the meantime, they can make the lives of good hard-working folk a complete misery, for they are seldom caught and punished by the Law.

During a trip to Craiova in Romania some years ago, my car was scratched up by someone during the night. Thankfully it was a hire car so it was covered, but I was told by my friends, that it was probably because the car had Bucharest plates, and local people hate those in Bucharest because in general, they have a better standard of living in the capitol. I know the person who did it was never caught because there was no way to identify the culprit.

I guess like many good citizens today, I will have to wait for 'Judgement Day'.

Never give up, there are still good people around.

Roy.

Will The Last Englishman Leaving the Country.....

In human history great nations rise and fall, it is the way of things. In the past, empires have risen through conquest and then been defeated by it.

History shows us that once great countries like Italy under the Romans, France with Napoleon, Spain under Phillipe 2, The British in the time of Queens Elizabeth and Victoria, and in more recent times the Germans under Hitler, all aspired to rule great areas of the globe, some with great success. The Arabs tried, the Turks, and even as far afield as the Far East, Japan, China and Mongolia have all tried with varying degrees of success. All have fallen.

It would seem every race on Earth has a dream to rule the world. Direct confrontation has been the accepted form of conquest in the past, but that is no longer a viable proposition, therefore, today we are confronted with sneak attacks from within. It is a sure way of taking over a country without war, bloodshed and violence, and it is in action right this minute in my country; England. It is true that a great deal of cooperation is required from the target country, and some European countries like Britain and The Netherlands among others, are giving it.

After the Second World War, Britain was on her knees, even in triumph, and the years that followed saw the 'End of Empire'. Countries right left and centre were demanding independence from Britain, and 'She' had no choice but to comply.

At the time, Britain had colonies from the Far East to Africa and from the Middle East to the Caribbean. From all this came the Commonwealth, which still survives today.

After the war, Britain, like many other countries, was short of manpower to rebuild. This started the immigration programme from previous empire states, and still continues today.

To take just one example, in 1961 the British Government passed the Commonwealth Immigration Act which gave all people belonging to ex-colonies the right of immigration into the UK. The floodgates were opened, and as can be seen on the streets of any English town today, they came in their droves.

It was not until 1968 came around with England beginning to be inundated with immigrants, that a very brave visionary, Conservative Cabinet Minister Enoch Powell, stood up in Parliament and gave his 'Rivers of Blood' speech that went down in parliamentary history.

He was the only politician in the country to see that Britain was accepting too many immigrants, and this would bring trouble on a huge scale. Enoch was called racist, ridiculed and shouted down by his peers, and removed from his post, but today, people look back and swear he was 100% right.

More than any other country, Britain has accepted refugees, asylum-seekers and other immigrants (mostly economic) to it's shores in the last 60 years, and believe it or not, they still haven't closed the gates. It's incredible!

Since 1960 Indians, Pakistani, Jamaicans, Africans from various countries and Muslims from the Middle East have flocked to Britain's shores in search of a better life. No-one can blame them for wanting to have a standard of living only dreamed about in their own country, and I certainly don't, but emigrating to a new country has its responsibilities. Sadly, this sentiment is not held by all who have come to Britain.

It is sad to relate that there are tens of thousands of Indians and Pakistani for example, who came to England in the 60's, and still don't speak a word of English. It is also a fact that these numbers are growing year by year.

It has always been my belief, that if you emigrate to another country, you owe it to the laws of decency and respect for your hosts to at least make an effort to learn the language of that country.

It is true that the British government did not help the process by allowing immigrants from the same cultural backgrounds to live together in areas of the same town instead of spreading them out among the general population.The immigrants have taken over so many areas of English towns that in many you are hard put to find an English face.

You have only to walk down a street in Bradford England to see that the whole town has been taken over by Pakistani Indians and Bangladeshi. They even wanted to legally change the name of the town a couple of years ago to reflect their heritage.

Could you imagine going to a foreign country (Iran -ha ha!)and asking them to change the name of a town because a few of you live there? You would probably end up on the chopping block!

Most irritating is the number of mosques being built with English tax-payers money so 'they' have somewhere to pray, and listen to the cleric preaching hatred for the system of government and style of living they moved so far to be a part of. Try asking the Iranian government for money to build a church because you are Christian (Ouch! Chopping block time again)!

In my opinion, when someone moves to another country they should do their best to integrate into that countries society, and above all, accept the customs and traditions of that land. This is not to say you are required to forget your own customs and religions however, just adapt them to your new life and surroundings.

Unfortunately, Britain forgot this when the immigrants started coming in, and did just the opposite, they started changing the English traditions and way of life to accommodate these people. That was the second big mistake.

Ridiculous as it may seem, even a children's nursery rhyme was banned because it mentioned the word 'Black' (Ba Ba black sheep have you any wool....) and was considered racist.

It is my belief that all this nonsense was started by insignificant, marginalised people who suddenly saw an opportunity to be the centre of attention, and get their names in the papers and on the TV news.

After the first beginnings, more people saw 'The light' and jumped on the bandwagon, and now the country is overrun with 'Bleeding Heart Brigades' who will protest about anything that doesn't suit their tiny warped minds. It is significant that in the beginning, the majority of these people were English, but now more and more groups are appearing, staffed by immigrants who are playing the system.

What is truly tragic, is the English people themselves either don't realise how their culture is being manipulated and undermined, or just don't care. It's incredible, and ultimately very sad!

In more recent times the disease has spread even further. Since many Eastern European countries have joined the EU there has been a huge influx of, for example, Polish. Most countries have strict immigration laws, but sadly Britain does not appear to have any at all. It would seem that anyone can gain entry to the UK, be given an apartment or house, plus weekly benefit handouts from the Local Council. It is wrong, desperately wrong, and the once proud British are nearing extinction, along with their traditions, history and culture.

It is known well enough that the immigrant population is currently breeding like rabbits, while the true English birthrate is falling.

It does not help the situation when pompous idiots like Dr. Rowen Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury said at the beginning of 2008 Britain should accept parts of Islamic Sharia Law. He really created a storm with that one! He has single-handed destroyed The Church of England with his radical ideas since he became Archbishop. However, it does give an insight into the thinking of many English. They still seem to believe that we need to change our way of life to accommodate the immigrants.

Personally, I think we should take a leaf from the Australian book: "If you don't like the way we do business, go back where you came from!" No subtlety about the 'Aussies', adapt or get out.

Unfortunately, for Britain it is too late, there are now so many immigrants in Local Councils, Parliament, and even The House of Lords, that the clock cannot be put back.

In the latest attack on the British way of life, some schools are now giving the classes in Hindi, Turkish or Arab because there are no 'English' kids left in the school. These kids are living, and will grow up in Britain, so why do they need to have their lessons in their parents mother tongue????? It is mind-boggling in the extreme.

I could imagine the reaction if I emigrated to Sudan and demanded that the school give my children all lessons in English!

The end result will no doubt be that all English people that can, will leave this 'Green and Pleasant Land' and live somewhere else. "Will the last Englishman to leave the country, please turn out the lights!" As a consequence of this, the immigrants will have won and the country will be handed over to them forever. The once mighty Britain will be nothing but a distant memory.

There may be readers of this blog who think I am racist, for that I am sorry, but I am not. I bear no ill-will towards any man or woman no matter what race or creed they belong to. The simple fact is, I love my country even though I don't live there anymore, and I find it sad to see a once proud nation slowly destroying itself and need to speak out. For this I make no apologies.

For those who wish to read the text of Enoch Powell's speech in full, please make use of the following link. I apologise for the site where I found it. I am not a member of the National Front nor do I necessarily agree with their policies.

http://www.natfront.com/powell.html


England, My England, May Your Sun Never Set.
Roy

Amnesty International's Prima Donna!

Oh how shameless some people are! Filled with righteous indignation at the Gaza conflict, Mizz Donatella Rovera, Amnesty's Chief Researcher for the Israeli/Arab conflict zone, has once again spewed forth her one-sided view of happenings there.

According to today's headlines, she now accuses the Israeli's of war crimes because Palestinian houses were demolished by the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) during the recent conflict.

Personally Madam, I think you know nothing of military tactics, you know nothing of the way Arab Terrorists fight, and consequently, for a "Researcher", you know very little about Gaza! Please, get off your high horse, do some proper research, and provide the world with an unbiased opinion or shut up!

Amnesty informed the BBC Website that 'Israeli forces engaged in "wanton destruction" of Palestinian homes during the recent conflict in Gaza'.

Mizz Rovera said:- "The destruction was, in our view, and according to our findings, wanton destruction - it could not be justified on military grounds." She is further quoted as saying :- "Wanton destruction on a large scale would qualify as a war crime."

Serious charges in anyone's book, but are they justified? I think not, being ex military, one who is totally impartial, does not have an axe to grind, and is not swayed by the sensationalistic headlines in the Press.

Yes! Houses were destroyed during the conflict, and yes! many of them were family homes, but the reasons for this were omitted by Mizz Rovera. She obviously didn't read my previous blog (25 January titled 'Gaza-The Dirty War') before going to the Press. More fool her!

I quote an IDF written communique that said:- "For example, buildings were either booby-trapped, located over tunnels, or fire was opened from within them in the direction of IDF soldiers............The terrorist organisations operated from within the civilian population, using them as a cover and made cynical use of the IDF's strict rules of engagement, opening fire from within civilian population centres, mosques, schools, hospitals and even private residences of citizens in the Gaza Strip".

You may beat me with a six-foot banana if this is not exactly what I said in my 25 January blog on Gaza! Mizz Rovera it would seem has conveniently forgotten this Arab Terrorist tactic!

It is not the first time Mizz Rovera has been found wanting during an interview on the subject of Palestine.

Late last year, Rovera was interviewed by Dan Izenberg which prompted the following response on December 18th from Sarah Mandel, an NGO Monitor, who wrote on the blog discoverthenetworks.org the following:- "Rovera, as an Amnesty International representative, is mistakenly assumed to be a regional expert. Yet, not only does she spend little time in the region and speak limited Hebrew, but her analysis in Izenberg’s interview is baffling - She omits to mention, let alone make the connection, between the reality of daily terror launched from Gaza while condemning Israeli government policy".

Sarah Mandel went further by saying:- "As detailed NGO Monitor research has shown, the one-woman operation run by Ms. Rovera has produced numerous false claims, including in Amnesty's obsessive reporting on the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah conflict. Dr. Michael Ehrlich, the former head of Amnesty’s Israel branch (1998-9), exposed the façade of this “research” based on so-called eyewitness evidence, and this led him to resign in protest. And NGO Monitor has shown quantitatively how Amnesty has consistently and unfairly singled out Israel for condemnation, to a far greater extent than oppressive regimes such as Iran, Sudan, Saudi Arabia and Libya, making a mockery of human rights claims".

Thank you Sarah, I hope you don't mind me quoting you. You and I are definitely on the same wavelength.

As for Amnesty International, they should disassociate themselves from this women before their reputation goes completely down the toilet.

In the beginning I admired the work of this organization, and felt some sympathy for the causes they were "fighting" for, now I am afraid their image has, over the years, been tainted by their biased reporting, and dare I say it, sensationalist reporting of "The Facts".

The fighting, loss of life, and suffering of the Palestinian People is known the world over, but they cannot expect any real help or sympathy from the rest of us until they show a commitment to finding peace with Israel. It is they, and they alone who voted in Hamas as their government, knowing full well they were a terrorist group. It stands to reason then that nothing will change until the people of Palestine remove these troublemakers as their government, and have someone who is willing to deal with Israel for a permanent solution.

It should be no surprise to anyone that the world press is also a party to this debacle, willing as it is to print any story, no matter how unfounded, and by people that have already been discredited, just for the sake of sensationalism! Gentlemen of the Press - You should be ashamed of yourselves!

Thank God for what you have, and be ready to share.

Roy.

'Middle of the Road' Used to be a Group!

I reported on my road trip from Spain to Holland, and thought the item really begs a follow-on, because driving through four countries, was an ideal opportunity to compare driving standards across Europe, or part of it anyway. Driving in Spain is sometimes a lottery because the Spanish are VERY macho when it comes to their 'Cocha' and driving. In a newspaper article I read recently, they were described as "frustrated bull-fighters" that had taken to the road. I guess this just about sums them up really. Ole!!

In Spanish towns, you will often hear a cacophony of two-tone horns, single tone horns, and often cheeky beeps if you don't pull away fast enough from the lights, or if you are accidentally blocking their route. It is not unusual to see someone driving at breakneck speed through the town and even worse on the motorway.

As in most big towns world-wide, the scooters zipping in and out between cars is something that would give any old lady a heart attack.

I drive fairly regularly on one or two motorways where I live, and the most frustrating thing is people who drive down the middle lane of a three lane highway. They even sit in the third lane of a four lane motorway. This is extremely frustrating if you have to cross two or three lanes in order to pass them, and you waste your time flashing them or hooting at them because they will not move over - at least, not until their exit comes up. Overtaking on the inside is a regular occurrence, even if illegal.

In the seventies and eighties this was a constant problem in Britain and still is. There were even TV debates on the subject, and those guilty of this breach in highway etiquette, and the Highway Code, often said "But the inside lane is for trucks" Duh! Nincompoops! Idiots! It is quite obvious that none of them had ever heard of the Highway Code, let alone read it!

For my American readers, let me just say that in Europe you must overtake on the left (right in Britain) unlike the USA where you may, I believe, overtake on both sides.

Now to get back to the point, this is a constant occurrence both in Spain and Belgium, and the strange thing is, in both countries, the majority of offenders are women drivers. Sorry girls, but it is a fact. That is not to say men don't do it because they too are guilty. It is sad to note that none of this has any impression on the Police in any country. They are completely disinterested in the entire affair and take no action at all.

Another annoying thing about driving in Spain is people who drive on full headlights all the time, totally ignoring the fact that they could cause an accident by blinding preceding or on-coming drivers.

I have often stated to friends that I would love to be a traffic policeman with a hammer. If I were, I would stop these inconsiderate individuals and smash their headlights on the spot. Perhaps they would be more considerate after they were forced to stay where they were until daylight, and then had the cost of repairs. Unfortunately, Justice is not that straightforward.

Anyway, on to France! In general I find the French are much more considerate than the majority of European countries. They will move over if you wish to overtake, however they still have their 'middle laners'. They do have one throw-back to the sixties that they just don't seem able to forget.

It was taught many years ago, that if you wished to overtake you put on your indicator and left it on until the maneuver was completed. If they were overtaking a string of cars or trucks this meant a long time. Today however, we have three and four lane motorways for which this system is not suited. If someone pulls out into the second lane to overtake, you do not know if they are also going to cross into the third or fourth lane also. A bit dodgy if you ask me.

Paris is of course a rule unto itself. They are plain crazy in Paris and if you look around you, nearly all the cars have dents and scratches like nobodies business. It's scary!!! If you come out alive and unharmed you can thank your lucky stars once again.

As previously stated, Belgium is a pleasure to drive at night, if you don't mind the noisy, bumpy ride, but here we have the same 'Middle of the Road' mentality as in Spain. As previously stated, most are women, and I wonder if they feel safer in the middle lane, or is it a statement thing. You know! Here I am and this lane is mine, do you hear, MINE!

Belgian men can be aggressive if you flash them because they are hogging the overtaking lane too much. Though in Spain the men are much much worse if you criticise their driving in any way.

Overall, the Dutch have improved from some ten years ago. Once they got into the outside lane on a motorway you could not shift them for love or money! Now, thankfully they have learned, somewhat, that the outside lane is intended for overtaking only. Most, but not all will move over when you approach from behind with the intention of overtaking.

In general, I think I can say with the utmost authority, that driving standards across Europe have fallen significantly over that past 40 years or so. Cars have become faster and more efficient at speed, but with that must surely come an increased awareness of the responsibility of the driver to control that machine in such a way as to be safe on the road, and considerate to other road users. Unfortunately both are sadly lacking.

Driving schools all over Europe have but one aim; To get you through the driving test as quickly as possible with the minimum of investment. Gone are the days when people were taught how to drive, and were taught all the rules for safe and courteous driving. No amount of investment will change today's mentality.

So what do we do? I really can't answer that question. All I can say is try your best to be safe and courteous and hope you don't get mown down by some idiot.

May your wheels continue turning.

Roy