NIGEL FARAGE : MAN OF THE PEOPLE

You always know when politicians feel threatened because that's the only time they show any real passion about anything.

In the last few weeks, Cameron, Clegg and Miliband, plus an assortment of their lieutenants, have come out swinging at their nemesis, Nigel Farage. The UKIP leader really has got under their skins and has finally been seen as a genuine threat to the cosy world which the three big parties have had to themselves for many years. In recent weeks, every slight failing of UKIP, Farage or any of their members has been pounced upon in order to show what a nasty lot they really are; every opportunity has been taken to denigrate them in every possible way. In fact, it's been quite interesting to see how the campaigns of the 'Big 3' have been focussed much more on decrying UKIP than in putting forward much in the way of meaningful and coherent policies of their own.

Thus far, Farage and his party have emerged relatively unscathed from the attacks against them, probably because the general public are only too well aware that much of the anti-UKIP rhetoric is simple 'politicking'. Last Saturday's 'Daily Telegraph' carried a report which, perhaps, summed up the real problem for the main parties and perhaps explains why they are so terrified of UKIP. According to it, Gillian Duffy, the woman branded a bigot by Gordon Brown, has said that Labour needs a straight-talking leader who is comfortable drinking a pint to reconnect with working class voters. She apparently went on to add that Ed Miliband is a 'privileged' career politician who lacks the authenticity of Nigel Farage.

Mrs Duffy is not the type of voter anyone would expect to come out with a good word about Mr Farage, but she did, and with a swipe at Miliband along the way. It's also undoubtedly true that her words are equally applicable to Cameron and Clegg, both of whom are from privileged backgrounds and neither of whom has ever had a real job in their lives; neither has any real connection to the people  they expect to vote for them. The one man who seems 'real' in the political dogfight of the day is Nigel Farage.

 

Frankly, Mrs Duffy has hit the nail on the head.

SCUDAMORE IS SEXIST. SO WHAT ?

The current furore over comments made by the boss of football's Premier League, Richard Scudamore, demonstrates just how far down the road of lunacy our society has now travelled.

Since time immemorial, men have made 'sexist' remarks about women and, no doubt, women have made equally 'sexist' remarks about men. Indeed, in my own experience, the conversation of women in this regard is every bit as coarse as that of men, often much more so. For some reason, no one seems to be much bothered if a woman abuses men, but no man dare open his mouth if it is to say anything which some woman may find offensive.

What this amounts to is a denial of every man's right to free speech while, for the time being, granting women total immunity to criticism. It is the emasculation of the male of the species on the altar of 'women's lib'. We now have a society in which men cannot even express thoughts or opinions without the fear of retribution being visited upon us. It will not be long before women find themselves subjected to the same oversight.

It is the beginnings of Orwell's terrifying prophecy. It is time both men and women fought back, before it is too late.

CLARKSON SAYS 'NIGGER' !

Once again, Jeremy Clarkson has managed to get a bit of publicity for himself. This time, he's been caught using a 'naughty word', last time it was for making derogatory remarks about Mexicans.

Clarkson is the type of self-serving, arrogant 'celebrity' that I despise. He appears to have no talent other than for being crude and childish; his imbecilic antics on 'Top Gear', allied to those of his equally stupid co-presenters, stopped me watching the programme many years ago. That he finds it necessary to court attention by the occasional 'slip of the tongue' shows just how desperate this pathetic man is for said attention.

All that said, that the media is in an uproar because he supposedly uttered the word 'nigger' is ridiculous. Our television, radio and films are littered with foul language every day and words that must cause, at the very least, a degree of discomfort to many and serious offence to some, are commonplace. Indeed, it often seems that the producers of programmes of all sorts go out of their way to encourage such profanity. 'Fuck' is heard all of the time; 'bastard', 'bugger', 'shit' and many others, words that were considered unacceptable or the language of the gutter when I was younger, are so common as to be almost part of the vernacular. Even the appalling 'cunt' is heard with greater frequency.

Amidst all of this, the word 'nigger' has become not just frowned upon but considered to be the most unacceptable of all words - why ? It is a word which has a specific meaning in that it refers to a colour - 'nigger brown'. In the film 'The Dambusters' the main character, Guy Gibson VC, is accurately portrayed as having a black dog which he named nigger - in recent showings of the film the dog's name has been blanked out, so politically correct have become those in charge of such things. That their action is pathetically stupid seems to escape them.

'Nigger' is not a particularly nice word, but it is just that, a word. 'Frog', Eyetie', 'Hun',' Spick', 'Polack', 'Honky', 'Yank', 'Yid', 'Paki', 'Chink', 'Jap', 'Kaffir', and many, many more are also just words that have been used in different parts of the world to refer to people from somewhere else, generally in derogatory ways. That we are now strongly discouraged from using these, while the vast array of disgusting profanities are everyday speech, is idiotic.

When I was child there was a simple saying : 'Sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me'. It's high time that our media, and the overly sensitive souls who rule us, grow up and accept that language is nothing to fear.

OSCAR PISTORIUS A SNIFFLING CRY-BABY ?

Listening to the sniffles of Oscar Pistorius is pretty sick-making.

This man is no shrinking violet and is, in fact, a hard-nosed competitor who took on the Olympic establishment in order to gain a place in the proper games at London 2012. Anyone who does that is unlikely to be a cry-baby.

Whatever the truth about the events of last year at his home in Pretoria, we've already heard that he had a liking for guns and a short fuse. This is a dangerous combination and one that led directly to the death of Reeva Steenkamp.

Whether he's guilty of murder or not, we have yet to discover, but his whiney and tearful displays in court certainly don't amount to evidence, they are just whiney and tearful displays and he should pack it in.

PEACHES GELDOF : WHO ?

Who on earth was Peaches Honeyblossom Geldof ?

Was she a great politician ? Was she a great artist or musician ? Was she perhaps, a great scientist ?

No, she was none of these things. She was a highly privileged, pampered and stupid child, born into a dysfunctional family in the torrid world of show business. She was surrounded by the most ridiculous media attention almost from birth and, in the end, it killed her. Married at 19, separated before she was 20 and divorced at 22, she married again at 23. Two children with more silly names followed. A typical 'career' in modelling and other areas of popular culture contributed nothing to society but undoubtedly earned her a substantial income. 

A professed Scientologist according to a 2009 interview and possibly a follower of Judaism by 2013, her life was a mess.

The worlds of media and show business may miss her today but, sadly, her death will be of no importance to anyone but her family in no time at all. What a waste of a life.

MORRISON'S : A 'SUPER' STORE NO MORE.

A few weeks ago, the supermarket chain 'Morrison's' published disappointing trading results although some of its rivals are still doing quite well. This makes me think that Morrison's is not getting its trading approach quite right.

I used to use a Morrison's store little more than half-a-mile from my front door, but no more. It used to be a 'Safeway', when it was a bit down market, and then Morrison's took over, extended and improved it. What had been a rather poor store became a good one. Sadly, that was a few years ago and it's clear that Morrison's has now lost its way.

I stopped using the store with any regularity a couple of years ago for several reasons. The entrance was often filled with people either selling double glazing, energy products or car recovery memberships, or by others shaking collecting tins under the noses of customers. The 'tills' were frequently accompanied by gaggles of schoolchildren offering to pack your shopping but, in reality, wanting a contribution to some school outing or other. Added to the annoyance of finding store gangways blocked by unattended refill trolleys on a regular basis, I gave up and moved elsewhere. The level of annoyance was simply too great to put up with.

Yesterday, I returned to the store to see if anything had changed, only to find that things had become worse. Even before getting into the store, I had a problem locating a small trolley as none had found their way back to the main trolley park at the entrance; having to scour the car park for a trolley did not make me happy.

Once inside, it was business as usual, although there were no salesmen or beggars, thank god. The aisles were still populated by unattended refill trolleys and additional fixed display stands had been added in positions strategically selected, or so it seemed, to cause maximum obstruction to customers. While the fruit and veg section had been turned round and 'modernised', the actual offerings were terrible; mouldy (yes, actually mouldy) lemons of a size to strain the eyes, shrivelled loose mandarins (or clementines or whatever; I can never tell the difference), even smaller that the lemons and clearly passed their 'sell by date'. I could have had a pre-packed dozen or more mandarins for £2, but I didn't want that many, and the loose peppers were far smaller than those on offer in other stores, while being more expensive; there was no loose broccoli, only pre-packed pieces at a set price and the regular celery was mixed up with the more expensive organic variety. There's a good catch for the unwary shopper.

To be fair, the staff have always been helpful, when asked, and the fish counter is excellent, but these small plus points can hardly compensate for the general service, or lack thereof. Apart from the occasional visit for fish, I won't be going back, even though the alternatives are further away.

ps. An orange bought on Saturday, one of four, is already going rotten by Monday !

E-CIGARETTES TO BE RESTRICTED.

That Governments really are useless is proved by today's news that our hopeless mob are planning an attack on both real cigarettes and their electronic cousins.

On the one hand, it's planned to make it illegal for an adult to buy cigarettes for anyone under the age of 18; at present, it's only illegal for cigarettes to be sold directly to under 18s, though it's not actually illegal for under 18s to smoke. That legislation in such an area would inevitably be pointless and largely unenforceable seems to escape the imbeciles who plan to implement it. One has to assume that they know nothing whatsoever about teenagers or their parents and friends and have a very rose-tinted view life outside of their own celestial sphere. One also has to wonder how they expect such legislation to be enforced in what is a largely private area of life; will teenagers who are seen smoking be rounded up and questioned ? Will they be made to reveal the sources of their cigarettes ? If so, this will be the beginning of the end for civil freedom in this country, with children being forced to inform on their parents and friends in a manner reminiscent of the days of communist Russia.

On the other hand, teenagers who smoke are to be denied access to the e-cigarettes which may be their salvation, on the spurious grounds that 'experts' are unable to determine whether or not these devices may be harmful. What a load of garbage ! Quite clearly, the cigarette industry and government have got together to try to control a product which threatens the income of both of them, one through reduced sales of tobacco products and the other through a loss of tax revenues. It cannot possibly be denied that e-cigarettes are less harmful than the real thing and, while it may not be desirable that teenagers smoke, it must be better that those who have taken to the evil weed are weaned off of it by any means possible. There really can be no justification for banning, or even restricting, the sale of e-cigarettes to anyone unless cigarettes themselves are also to be banned.

Will our political masters never stop interfering in matters of little real importance and focus on matters of national significance ?