Tory Opposition To PR For New House Of Lords?

Democracy does not matter. 'Getting the right result' does? My detestation of the BNP has always been made very clear on this Blog but if they get fairly elected members under a fair system - then so be it - IT IS CALLED DEMOCRACY! (The election of Greens is actually more scary.)
I suspect that the fears expressed in the article below are not really about the rapidly declining BNP but rather more about the increasingly successful UKIP!
 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/bnp/9239474/Camerons-father-in-law-warns-Lords-reforms-could-lead-to-BNP-peers.html

Michael Bascum Selsor.

Michael Bascum Selsor was executed yesterday in Oklahoma for a particularly brutal murder.

My views on the wrongfulness of this sentence should carry weight as I am no abolitionist and firmly believe that every society should at least have access to the ultimate penalty. (Those who automatically rail against all death sentences are incapable of a balanced viewpoint).

My argument is that the execution of this man is immoral THIRTY SEVEN years after the event.
By English standards, he had served the best part of 'three life sentences' with an execution on top!
How is this deemed to be justice?
I really feel that the USA must 'fast track' these cases and ensure that the execution process can be completed in under two years - or not at all. The appeals process MUST be trimmed to reasonable levels.
I am fully aware that delaying tactics and trickery by defence attorneys in the hope of a reprieve are substantially to blame - but that does not make it a worthy system.
Surely, it must be possible to work out a shortened pathway which does not involve such inhumanity.

Red Wine Really Is Good For You.

How red wine prolongs life: Scientists uncover how 'miracle ingredient' boosts body’s cell energy

Resveratrol found in red wine has been credited with anti-ageing powers, and the ability to work against cancer, heart disease and obesity, really does boost the body’s supply of cell energy, claim researchers.
(So much for that happily decreasing number of believers who have stated that the miracle at Cana had Jesus 'turning water into unfermented grape juice'!)

Galatians.

Antonio Buero Vallejo.

I met - indeed interviewed - the greatest Spanish playwright of the second half of the 20th Century in 1973. I was made most welcome at his home in Madrid.

'So what,' do you ask?

Just thought I'd mention it!

(When I do name-dropping, I use somebody that 99% of my readership has never even heard of. Sigh!)

I taught many of his plays to 'A' Level students for more than a quarter of a century. My favourite modern playwright by a country kilometre.

Dumbing Down.

A-levels and GCSEs have got easier over the past decade, an official analysis has confirmed.

A series of reports by Ofqual, the exam watchdog, has found that science and geography papers are ‘softer’ and ‘less demanding’.
The problem is far more widespread. Over my 37 years in teaching I have watched standards plummet in almost total disbelief.

What must be stated however, is that this has twin causes:

Firstly, examiners are entitled to draw cut-off points wherever they choose with all the nonsense that this entails. It is this and this alone which leads to 'result inflation'.

Secondly - and far more worrying is the falling, academic abilities of children. This cannot be just about whether or not 'phonic' methods were used to teach them English in infant schools.

There is evidence that IQ levels are falling.

Many readers may be surprised to see me state that the education system itself is not actually at the root of this particular problem at all.

Causes range from lack of proper discipline in the home to tolerated idleness by parents; TVs in bedrooms to unlimited texting of friends; computer games to accepted 'slobbing about'; poor parental monitoring of children's progress to the naive belief that children really are doing homework behind that closed bedroom door.

To these you can add the passive nature of so many of the activities followed by children today, lack of reading and failure to access that treasure trove of largely excellent, educational channels on television in favour of soaps and the utterly trivial.

When you add to all of this the rather lame education received, we really do have to look forward to rapidly declining intelligence levels across our society in the future.

Scary stuff!
 Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2137939/A-Levels-GCSEs-HAVE-got-easier-decade-says-qualifications-watchdog.html#ixzz1tg5LoQE8

Please Vote UKIP + Other Voting Advice.

If you are in one of the wards which is fortunate enough to have a UKIP candidate - do not forget to vote tomorrow. If you have not - May I suggest voting for any worthy independent? Otherwise, think VERY hard indeed before casting a vote in favour of any LibLabCon. Never vote Green! They are not 'a good protest' - merely an extreme leftwing party. I doubt that you would have a BNP candidate but if you do - let this rotten party continue its plummeting along the pathway to total self-destruction.
May I also suggest that you never cast a vote for any miniscule party of left or right unless you know their full history. Remember too how The Christian Party muddied the waters in the N.W. Region in the last EU elections and allowed Nick Griffin into office!
Tomorrow, I hope to gain 10% of the vote in my ward. Double figures would please me immensely.

Rolex.

I assume that my Rolexes are 'genuine genuine'. At $3 a pop from a streetseller in Shanghai - I do not expect fakes! Not even genuine ones!

EU - Super Value!

'Cost of EU quangos to taxpayers rises by 33% over two years.' (OE)

The FT Says ...

In the FT, Paul Goodman argues that the EU is “not the main cause” of UKIP’s recent rise. However, in the Times, Professor Vernon Bogdanor writes, “Until now, UKIP’s progress has been hampered by voters’ reluctance to consider Europe as important as the economy or the public services. But this may be about to change…The crisis in the eurozone will accelerate the process still further.”

David Cameron: ' The Conservatives Understand Ordinary People.'

How To Help Release International - At NO Cost!

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Chen Guangcheng.

'Christian activists called on the Obama Administration on Sunday during a prayer vigil to protect blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng, who managed to escape from confinement and is believed to be in hiding at the U.S. Embassy in China.'

By Luiza Oleszczuk , Christian Post Reporter.

Grimsby Job Centre Earns A Coconut!

A man who is suffering from horrendous blood clots and open ulcers has lost his disability benefits - after job centre doctors labelled him fit for work.

James Major, 33, struggles to walk, and has been told by specialists at two hospitals he would be risking his life if he went back to work. (Mail.)

Of necessity, a LoonyTunesWatch Coconut is hereby awarded to Grimsby Job Centre!

Tories - Bring Back I.D.S!

IDS backs campaign to promote marriage: Minister throws his weight behind judge's crusade

The Work and Pensions Secretary (pictured) indicated he was wholeheartedly behind a bid by High Court judge Sir Paul Coleridge to end the ‘destructive scourge’ of family breakdown.

Luke.

Easy Money?

Social Mobility.

'Social mobility in Britain is the worst in the Western world and the gap between rich and poor has become ingrained in children as young as three, MPs conclude today.

They quote a study showing that the prospects of half of all children born in the UK can be almost entirely linked to the circumstances of their parents – compared to only 15 per cent of those in Denmark.'

Of course - it is politically incorrect to point out that the greatest ever engine for social mobility in the UK was the Grammar School. It certainly worked for me, my wife and all my oldest friends who certainly came from the lower classes.

Fancy the tories removing that ladder, eh? That's what it it's like wiv toffs though, innit?

Er - well - actually, it was the left and the liberal left what done it! (It was only the later swing to the left with the tories which brought them onto the bandwagon of supporting 'Apprehensive Schools' instead.

This is arguably the best, single example of the devastation to our nation (will make a nice rap lyric) by ivory tower politicians.

Studies in the past (ironically enough, from the LSE, if I recall correctly) have shown that social mobility in the few areas retaining these so-called 'elitist institutions' is considerably greater than elsewhere.

Vote UKIP - Please.

A simple request. With the local elections only two days away, please broker a visit to the local polling station into your busy schedule.
If they cannot take the seat - and in some areas they will succeed - help them achieve second places.
Second places are a single step from a huge change to the political landscape.

Many thanks.

Remploy.

'Remploy’s mission is to transform the lives of disabled people and those who experience complex barriers to work by providing sustainable employment opportunities.
We believe in greater inclusion and equality for disabled people through sustainable employment.'

Who could possibly fail to be impressed by the remit and excellence of this organisation which is SO socially valuable?

Well. Apparently George Osborne is not a fan as I understand that a number of these are due to close - saving pennies, when the clawing back of misdirected foreign aid would save millions of pounds and possibly billions!

I Am Easily Confused.

Blog Goes From Strength To Strength!

It's a record number of visitors for the sixth consecutive month!