Havering On

Running the asylum the inmates are

2010-07-20T09:03:00.002+01:00

Fast broadband is a very important tool for the development of rural economies. So our Scottish Parliament member John Lamont asks a perfectly reasonable question of the Scottish Executive at Holyrood last week.

"How much it would cost to upgrade the (a) Abbey St Bathans, (b) Cappercleugh, (c) Longformacus and (d) Whitsome telephone exchanges to full platform ADSL exchanges."

The minister, Jim Mather, replies. "Information on the cost of upgrading the Abbey St Bathans, Cappercleugh, Longformacus and Whitsome telephone exchanges to full platform ADSL is commercially sensitive and therefore cannot be released by the Scottish Government."

What utter bollocks! running the asylum the inmates are . . .please rearrange. . . There is no other company providing rural telephone exchanges, no likelihood of any and so how come it's commercially sensitive?

BA Cabin Crew

2010-05-11T10:42:00.002+01:00

I've been so busy writing that the blog has not just taken a back seat, it's practically fallen off the bus. Nevertheless, a friend just sent me this. It is brilliant. . .

MSP's on Chav Watch

2010-03-10T06:45:00.003Z

SNP MSP Jamie Hepburn has tabled a Holyrood motion claiming that Venezuela has been "transformed" by President Hugo Chávez. His motion calls on MSPs to show "solidarity" with Mr Chavez's government and has been backed by the SNP's Bill Kidd, Alasdair Allan and Bill Wilson, as well as Labour's Elaine Smith. Let's just be clear here shall we. This is a country that recently devalued its currency and stands accused of becoming increasingly autocratic by imposing restrictions on the media and politicising the military and judiciary. In fact President Chavez is not some warm and cuddly man who you'd want to invite round for tea. What's more it's got bugger all to do with the issues facing Scotland and is a complete waste of the parliament's time and energy.

I wonder what these MSP's constituents would make of it all. "Aye that Hugo Chávez, he's that new signing for Celtic. He's the one one what wears the Burberry all the time.

The Scotsman's Irrelevant

2010-03-08T07:44:00.003Z

Interestingly the circulation of the Scotsman was 46, 976 between July and December last year. That's less than 1 in 100 Scots who are buying the paper. They manage to get their readership figures up to 177,000, meaning around 1 in 30 Scots actually read The Scotsman, making it largely irrelevant. (Note to self, cancel subscription)

The Scotsman is no longer a newspaper

2010-03-08T07:37:00.003Z

The Scotsman is no longer worthy of being called a newspaper. It seems to have degenerated into somethingfar less useful. The case of Steven Purcell, the Glasgow council leader, one of the most important jobs in Scottish public life has been covered in far from thorough terms. Take today's rather limp 500 words about decisions he made not being reviewed by the Glasgow council (and why not?). Steven Purcell got 500 words of coverage in the paper today while a story about Baden Powell's 1930's possible links to the Hitler Youth movement got over 800 words.

Yeah Right!

2010-03-06T13:09:00.003Z

No 10 also fiercely denied Conservative claims Mr Brown was using the visit to troops in Afghanistan to divert attention away from the row over his refusal to sign off on equipment.

Is the moment when Labour lost the election?

2010-03-06T10:40:00.001Z

“Every request that the military commanders made to us for equipment was answered. No request was ever turned down.”

Gordon Brown, 5 March 2010, Chilcot Enquiry

The Last Days of Rome?

2010-02-25T19:34:00.004Z

I'm obviously missing something here.

RBS are paying bonuses worth £1.3 billion to its employees. The Chief Executive of RBS meanwhile is saying, they have lost money because they are not paying big enough bonuses. His rather patronising attitude during interviews on TV show a man who is rather tired of having to answer such petty questions from interviewers, some of who may bank with RBS, daring to ask him what is going on, on behalf of us, the shareholders.

But most worrying of all are the bloody wimps – the socialist, Labour, government of the people, advocates of a fairer Britain, those who are standing up for the underdog, I don't frankly give a monkey's, bunch of second rate, insulated, do as I say not as I do tossers that masquerade as the British Government. They put billions of our money into RBS, we own 84% of the bank, yet the government think it unnecessary to be asking just who are getting the million pound bonuses. Why are they not doing what the US government is doing and insisting we know who this mysterious bankers are? If the Labour government think this in any way enhances their credibility then I am totally mystified. And don't get me wrong, I'm absolutely certain that the Conservatives would do no better. It's just inexplicable that a so-called Socialist government can behave in such a manner.

And let's not kid ourselves shall we. Just who are these bankers going to go and work for if they don't get the level of bonuses that Britain's banks are paying?

I am becoming so disillusioned by what is going on with politics. It's not a bloody game (with particular reference to that idiot Alex Salmond and his display in Holyrood today) it affects our national state of mind. Is it any wonder that we are a nation in terminal decline. Is it just me that thinks we are living in the last days of Rome?

A Fairer Britain or The Forces of Hell?

2010-02-23T20:54:00.005Z

Good! So that's alright then. We now all know that Mr Brown is not a bully. He's just someone who cares and is determined to build a fairer Britain.

In the meantime Mr Darling, arguably the next most important man in government to the PM, has confirmed in an interview with Sky News that two of the Prime Minister's key aides briefed long and hard against the Chancellor when he predicted, back in 2008 that Britain's economy was in for a very rough time. According to Mr Darling, "the forces of hell were unleashed." Now who could have unleashed the forces? The 'forces of hell', clearly not a very nice man. But does this constitute bullying. No it probably does not but what then followed exposes someone who is clearly hell-bent on getting his own way.

During the summer Mr Brown wanted to replace Mr Darling with Ed 'Blinker' Balls, but Mr Darling got his own back by refusing to be replaced, insisting he would resign to the back benches rather than accept another job in government. This would have made the PM's job close to untenable. Result Mr Darling is still in No.11, while Mr Brown remains in No.10.

Now all this can do little for the smooth working of government in these most testing of times. Mr Brown is clearly someone who likes to get his own way. For years he wanted the top job, over which he agreed a deal with Tony Blair. Now is it, was it, right that Tony Blair, who said he was going to serve a full term, stepped down to allow a man into the top job who is most obviously not cut out for such a role?

As I've often said on this blog, Mr Brown is not a leader, he is not the stuff from which leaders are made. All that has gone on since he has come to power shows a man who is Machiavellian, a man who has not the skills to be PM and most worryingly a man who is by inclination introverted rather than an extrovert. Leadership in a parliamentary democracy, one that is founded on the longstanding principals of cabinet rule does not sit well with Mr Brown (nor did it with his predecessor but he was a lot cleverer, as were those he gathered around him.) Gordon Brown is a controller, not a leader.

Vast column inches are given over to the opinion polls, the tea leaves and crystal ball gazing by pollsters trying to determine who is ahead, and by how much, and what it could all mean for our future government. Clearly Mr Cameron has not grabbed the electoral high ground; it might all change when we have the TV debates, but then again it may not. So could Gordon Brown still be PM after the election? Yes he could, and then the country will be in real trouble. Watch then the infighting and the jockeying before the knives come out. We will be faced with a Labour party who thinks it is omnipotent, one that will contain even less experience than the current cabinet. Who will push the knife into Mr Brown should he win in a couple of months?

Gordon Brown may want to be careful what he wishes for. . .

The Monaco Foody

2010-02-21T13:18:00.004Z

There are few people in this world who like eating, cooking, talking about food, writing about it (with great passion) and generally waxing lyrical than The Monaco Foody. Mrs H says I live to eat. If that's the case then the Monaco Foody invented living! Read his blog HERE. . .you will come away famished.

Exactly Why Do MSPs Get Paid?

2010-02-10T20:46:00.004Z

Supper's ready said Mrs H in a voice redolent of Peter Gabriel and Genesis. A visit to the dentists with nothing much more than a spot of cleaning had me perfectly in the mood for some piazza, salad and a nice single malt. As an accompaniment we tuned into BBC Scotland's news – a privilege denied to most of you I suspect. One of the main items on the news was a piece on council budgets and a debate in the Scottish Parliament - the numptorium, as it's unaffectionately known to many. Clearly this issue is of major importance as there are likely to be some serious job losses and some real negative effects on local economies, particularly in rural areas. The Camera is tight in on John Swinney who is waxing lyrical, as only he can, on the numbers game that is the devolved Scottish budget. Camera pulls back to reveal an almost empty chamber, maybe a dozen MSPs of various political persuasions, but precious few of any one party.

So precisely why do they get paid? Obviously it's not to turn up for work like the rest of us. Wasn't there a load of hubris back in the early days of the parliament suggesting that the Scottish version would be much better than the London one, with MSPs being attentive and attending? You wonder what it is they do? I know I should be much less surprised but it would be nice to think that they did their jobs a little better. Then again perhaps the whole charade of the debate is just a waste of time and they might as well not bother.

Arsene Whinger

2010-02-09T13:06:00.003Z

How come it's always someone else's fault when you lose?

Unbelievable – Jim Devine

2010-02-05T21:33:00.002Z

This is unbelievable on every level. However, what is most worrying is the fact that this is one of the 646 MPs who are elected to supposedly run our country. Watch this and weep. . .

Ed Milliband – Am I Bovered?

2010-01-31T20:50:00.002Z

According to today's Daily Mail Ed Milliband, the brother of that man with the pencil case, has broken his silence on the ongoing row about man-made climate change by declaring war on the 'siren voices' who denied global warming was real or man-made.

Bovered?

She ain't No SuBo!

2010-01-30T19:52:00.004Z

This woman is suing Simon Cowell under the the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. She claims he and the other judges on Britain's Got Talent didn't give her a chance. This is everything that is utterly wrong about these type of programmes. They give people, with absolutely no talent whatsoever, a false impression of their chances of success. In this woman's case she has no chance of ever being a singer – she's clearly tone deaf. Embedding a youtube video has been denied, no doubt by her legal team. Just go HERE to hear absolute rubbish.

The BBC's Very Own Management Bollocks

2010-01-26T11:07:00.004Z

If ever I doubted there would be enough material for Management Bollocks 2 then bless the BBC. They are advertising for a 'Change Lead' position in their internal newspaper. They describe the position as. . .' 'responsible for shaping and managing the execution of the change ambition' for the Digital Media Initiative Programme.

In the meantime I'm just finishing Political Bollocks – the biggest challenge? Fitting it all into 124 pages!

The Great Del Shannon!

2010-01-25T13:09:00.002Z

I've just written the sleeve notes for a new 30 Del Shannon compilation. It's a fabulous musical journey through the career of one of the greats from the 60s. You can buy it HERE

Trump's Hole?

2010-01-21T20:08:00.002Z

Rubislaw Quarry in Aberdeen, Europe’s largest man-made hole, is on the market for £30,000. Perhaps the Donald will buy it and turn it into 'the world's greatest water feature'

A Showboat to the Maldives

2010-01-20T08:21:00.003Z

It's been revealed that Scotland's main climate change champion, none other than our Glorious Leader Alex Salmond is to visit the Maldives en-route to the Commonwealth Games in Delhi. It's not as some of you may assume because it's the Maldives Derby or Grand National, no it's so he can study the effects of climate on the Islands. The visit has been promoted because Mr Salmond signed an agreement with the government of the Maldives to help combat global warming at the recent climate change summit in Copenhagen.

Seriously, does his actions make any difference at all? With the problems that beset our economy, news that the NHS in Scotland does not perform as well as in England and all the other issues that we have – like the SNP's wilful desecraeation of Scotland through the gung-ho policy of approving wind farms – does he honestly think this is the best use of his time?

Rather than flying to the Maldives perhaps he should take a showboat

Do you have a bladder problem?

2010-01-18T13:12:00.003Z

Well it seems that you may not be alone. So un-alone in fact that someone has created runpee.com. It's a site that tells you when you can go to the bathroom while you're at the cinema without missing anything vital in a movie.

How the BBC Say Sorry

2010-01-16T18:19:00.006Z

According to the BBC Complaints web site they should have done better on the One Show in their piece of biased reporting.

Complaint

We received complaints that an item about politics and class in The One Show on 14 January was biased against the Conservative Party.

The BBC's response

A number of comments have been made about the report on class on The One Show on 14 January. It is one of several features that The One Show will air in the run up to the election, covering political parties and politicians. We accept that the piece was not as good as it should have been. The One Show production team are aware of their responsibilities to ensure fairness in their output.

They cannot quite bring themselves to admit that it was just plain wrong. By saying "We accept that the piece was not as good as it should have been," it demonstrates all that is wrong with a culture that emanates from by the overpaid and overpromoted DG

Rupert Holmes – Pursuit of Happiness

2010-01-16T12:22:00.006Z

It's back. . .after a sabbatical of unprecedented length. It's the album of the week. I've written about Rupert Holmes before, his Widescreen album was the first of his that I ever bought. I had all of them on vinyl back in the 1970s and 80s but they got sold in either the great financial necessity purge or a later space saving purge. I've been in pursuit of them all ever since and today I finally got the last one, The Pursuit of Happiness.

It was released in 1978 and even then was somewhat at odds with the prevailing mood of pop. Rupert's songs are complex and witty but they are always catchy and just about every track on this album is super catchy. From the opening number, 'Less is more' you are invited into an intimate world of New York loft apartments and sophisticated people – today it might just sound a triffle dated to some (Ok, a lot dated in its feel and form) but I love it. I've always been a sucker for great pop songs and that's what this album and all of Rupert's albums are all about. Other standout tracks include, 'So Beautiful it Hurts', 'Speechless', 'Let's Get Crazy Tonight', 'Guitars' and 'The Long Way Home'.

If you only know Rupert Holmes from 'Escape (The Pina Colada Song) don't be put off. It's a song that has had a huge amount of airplay and perhaps has a tendency to grate for some in that the story wears thin after too many listenings. That's not a charge that you can level at the vast majority Rupert's output.

In recent years he's written a couple of very good books. I've read Swing, a good murder mystery and I have Where the Truth Lies to read. There's also a new book called The Musician's Daughter

The BBC's Bias as Exemplified by The One Show

2010-01-15T16:40:00.002Z

I've just sent this complaint to the BBC....probably a lot of good it will do...

Is it really the BBC's job to make party political broadcasts for the Labour Party? The piece on yesterday’s One Show was incredibly one sided and its whole tone was anti-David Cameron – just because he went to public school and had a privileged background. The people that were interviewed were a lop-sided group, including Kevin McGuire of the Daily Mirror who is lock stock and barrel Labour. What would happen if it was a package asking the question, do we really want a Scot as our Prime Minister. That of course would be unthinkable for the BBC because it would be racist. Even the presenter's follow-up was biased.

Yet again we see the institutional bias of the BBC come to the fore. Perhaps your millionaire DG who went to public school has something to say about it?

Not Only are Policemen Looking Younger. . .

2010-01-14T17:43:00.002Z

"I used to be able to walk around my local supermarket but now someone else will do my shopping for security reasons."

No, not a member of the Royal Family, a senior politician or an X-Factor winner. It's 46-year-old Peter Vaughan, the new head of South Wales police (since New Year’s Day). He's paid £144,500 a year to come out with this kind of crap!

The Macdonald's were right. . .

2010-01-12T22:10:00.002Z

. . .you should never trust a Campbell

Harvey Brooks & The Electric Flag

2010-01-06T13:09:00.004Z

Harvey Broks is a bass player who has had the privilege to play with so many great musicians – Dylan, Mike Bloomfield, Al Kooper, Steve Stills, Cass Elliot, the Doors and Miles davis. His composition, Harvey's Tune that is featured on the Super Session album has long been a favourite of mine. Harvey was also a member of the Electric Flag, a band put together by Mike Bloomfield & Barry Goldberg in 1967 that included Buddy Miles, who played some of the most inventive rock of the period.

You can catch Harvey talking about the Electric Flag HERE, it is fascinating. There are other vidlogs on Harvey's site about working with Dylan, Miles davis and a whole host of other musical legends.

An Apple for Teacher. . .Mandarin for all Pupils

2010-01-04T17:42:00.004Z

Mandarin for all pupils, says Ed Balls, so goes the headline in the Daily Telegraph. No, not an update of the apple for teacher routine but a plan by the aptly named Balls to allow all children to learn the Chinese language. He also thinks that more children should be able to study Polish, Russian and Arabic up to GCSE level. It's all very laudable but like so much Nu-Labour policy it's all about the soundbite, grabbing the headlines with little or no attention paid to the reality of delivering on the ideas. How will schools cope with yet more subjects to schedule? Could we just get the basics right? In Scotland, and to be fair Balls has nothing to do with the situation north of the border, one in five children leave school without being fully literate. It may be better in England, but i suspect not by much. . .

Classical Music List is Flawed

2009-12-29T17:35:00.004Z

According to a show on BBC Radio 2 yesterday this is the The People's Classical Chart Top 30, that is to say Britain's most widely heard classical music recordings.

1 Orff - O Fortuna From Carmina Burana (Kurt Eichhorn)
2 Vaughan Williams - Fantasia On A Theme By Thomas Tallis (Bernard Haitink)
3 Rimsky-Korsakov - Scheherazade (Charles Mackerras)
4 Tchaikovsky - The Sleeping Beauty (Mikhail Pletnev)
5 Schumann - Romance In F Sharp Major Op 28/2 (Joseph Cooper)
6 Delibes - Sylvia (Richard Bonynge)
7 Rachmaninov - Symphony No 2 (Vladimir Ashkenazy)
8 Holst - The Planets (James Loughran)
9 Tchaikovsky - The Sleeping Beauty (Valery Gergiev)
10 Schubert - Symphony No 5 (Neville Marriner)
11 Rachmaninov - Piano Concerto No 2 (Vladimir Ashkenazy)
12 Bizet - Carmen (Giuseppe Sinopoli)
13 Holst - The Planets (John Eliot Gardiner)
14 Vaughan Williams - The Lark Ascending (Sarah Chang)
15 Zipoli - Elevazione For Cello And Oboe (Robert Clark)
16 Beethoven - Symphony No 6, Pastoral (John Eliot Gardiner)
17 Grieg - Piano Concerto (Krystian Zimerman)
18 Tchaikovsky - Swan Lake (Charles Dutoit)
19 Litolff - Scherzo (From Concerto Symphonique No 4) (Peter Donohoe)
20 Holst - The Planets (Simon Rattle)
21 Vivaldi - The Four Seasons (Nigel Kennedy)
22 Rodrigo - Concierto De Aranjuez (Julian Bream)
23 Saint-Saens - Symphony No 3, Organ (Myung-Whun Chung)
24 Elgar - Cello Concerto (Jacqueline Du Pré)
25 Bruch - Violin Concerto No 1 (Maxim Vengerov)
26 Mendelssohn - Symphony No 4 In A Major, Italian (John Eliot Gardiner)
27 Orff - O Fortuna From Carmina Burana (Riccardo Muti)
28 Rimsky-Korsakov - Scheherazade (Seiji Ozawa)
29 Holst - The Planets (David Mathias Lloyd-Jones)
30 Mendelssohn - A Midsummer Night's Dream (Yoel Levi)

I don't believe it. . .as they saying goes. Do they seriously want me to believe that Bach's Air on a G-String, the music from the Hamlet ad, is played less often than some on this list? What about Dvorak's Largo from his New World Symphony (It's the music from the Hovis Advert)? This chart was supposed to cover adverts, lift music, radio plays etc etc.

Now I know all lists are basically daft but this one is UNBELIEVABLE!

The Making of Modern Ireland – An Alternative History

2009-11-22T11:21:00.003Z

A new book, but not one of mine; this one is written by my friend Geoff Robinson. Writing a book is challenging in all sorts of ways and the amazing thing about Geoff is you're never too old to take that challenge. He has just published The Making of Modern Ireland – An Alternative History and he's 88 years old. Geoff's book is both extremely well researched and written in such a way as to make history engaging and interesting without being in the slightest bit stuffy.

“The Ireland I now inhabit is one that these Irish contemporaries have helped to imagine.” – Seamus Heaney

The history of a nation all too often depends on an admixture of truths, half-truths and mythology; exemplified by the story of Britain and Ireland. Both countries were part of the Angevin Empire that controlled an area from the banks of the Shannon to the Centre of France until after its defeat by the French, in 1399. But Ireland did not experience English rule until her colonisation by Henry VIII in the 16th Century.

Basing their story on past ills which resulted in the 1798 Rising by the United Irishmen and the birth of republicanism, together with carefully selected facts, folklore and historically inaccurate assumptions, the Fenians produced a mythology which was in part responsible for the Rising of 1916. Few are aware that this would not have been possible but for the secret connivance of the enemies of Irish freedom, while Ireland gained her independence not by the Rising but as a result of British over-reaction which produced the War of Independence.

The Making of Modern Ireland looks at the broad sweep of the nation’s history from the 12th Century, when it was part of the Angevin Empire, right up to 2009 and the government of Brian Cowan. Geoff Robinson’s narrative offers an alternative view, stripped of the half-truths and mythology, that has passed for much of the country’s history.

Though born and educated in England, Geoff Robinson is an Irish citizen who has lived in Ireland for over fifty years. An unswerving believer in the rectitude of the Irish cause, he knew many who had been involved in the 1916 Rising and later came to meet others of such divergent political views as the daughter of a Redmondite MP and the editor of the “Bulletin”, a clandestine newssheet published during the War of Independence
Following his marriage in 1966 to Bernadette Tiernan, a national teacher, he developed an interest in Irish politics. His wife’s revelation that no critical examination of the events leading up to the 1916 Rising was contained in the schools curriculum, prompted him to make a re-evaluation of Irish history which has resulted in his book, The Making of Modern Ireland.

Buy it from Amazon UK

Buy it from Amazon US

MANAGEMENT BOLL**KS – How to talk your way to the top…

2009-10-28T09:25:00.003Z

Just who is picking the low hanging fruit? Is brainstorming a thing of the past or do we now just do 'thought showers'? If you have ever spent time in a meeting contemplating yet another 'paradigm shift' then you will be the first to realise that at the end of the day it is all a load of. .

It's out now and it's the perfect stocking filler for all your executives friends (and even those in the family!)

What the publisher says – For some people Genghis Khan was the earliest example of an extremely competent manager; although it’s doubtful whether he ever wasted time on management speak – for him actions spoke louder than words. Management speak seems to have been gifted to the world by America. Chester Irving Edwards’ 1938 book Functions of the Executive has a lot to answer for. With statements like, “The line of communication should not be interrupted when the organization is functioning,” you could have guessed that it was only going to get worse.

Initially it was those on the cutting edge that talked the talk, soon middle, junior and even non-managers embraced this language as a means of getting ahead. Management speak is very seductive – the bottom line is we’re all trying to leverage our fair share of the intellectual capital. Even politicians, who look increasingly like middle managers in marketing departments, have hi-jacked management speak to ‘present’, or at least try to differentiate, their ever more similar ideas from those of the other parties.

It is now so pervasive that everyone in society at least grasps the basics of the language. It’s no different from the language as a whole; it’s evolving year by year as new words get added to the lexicon almost every week. It would be wonderful to know who dreams some of it up. Who was he first numpty that uttered the immortal phrase, ‘transferable skill set’? Who said ‘impactfulnesss?’ and managed to keep a straight face? Who decided it was a good idea to have hymn sheets in the office? But whatever the answer, who needs to walk the walk, when you can talk the talk?

While euphemisms have crept into management speak for just about every kind of business activity, recently one old fashioned piece of straight talk has come back into fashion. ‘You’re fired!’ Still, it’s better than if Genghis Khan had been your manager, in his case it would have been ‘You’re dead!’

Brilliant!

2009-10-23T22:15:00.002+01:00

Lord Mandelson's Gardening Costs

2009-10-12T17:25:00.002+01:00

Back in 2004, five days after Lord Mandelson accepted an offer from Tony Blair to become Britain’s European Commissioner his Lordship, although back then he was lain old Mr, received a bill from his gardener for £1,500 for work on his back garden. It covered “crown topping of overgrown trees, pruning of leggy shrubs, digging up and removal of rogue saplings (elderberry and sycamore), removal of weeds, all tree branches, leaves and green rubbish taken away”. If Sir Thomas Legg thinks £1,000 per annum is sufficient for gardening costs can we assume his Lordship will repay the £500. . .always assuming of course that was all he claimed for gardening that year.

The Beatles. . .Not

2009-09-14T07:41:00.003+01:00

In honour of the Beatles remasters – I''ve bought four of them and cannot honestly see what all the fuss is about – and the fact that I am emerging from a welter of work. Two classic albums made up of alternative recordings

Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – Physic TV
With A Little Help From My Friends – Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds – Noel Harrison
Getting Better – Steve Hillage
Fixing a Hole – Big Daddy
She’s Leaving Home – Baja Marimba Band
Being For The Benefit of Mr Kite – Frank Sidebotham
Within You Without You – The Soulful Strings
When I’m Sixty-Four – Bernard Cribbins
Lovely Rita – Fats Domino
Good Morning, Good Morning – Critical Mass
Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) – Jimi Hendrix
A Day in The Life – Ipanema Beach Orchestra

Revolver

Taxman – The Bollock Brothers
Eleanor Rigby – Dr. West’s Medicine Show & junk Band
I’m Only Sleeping – Roseanne Cash
Love You To - Bongwater
Here, There & Everywhere – Stephane Grapelli
Yellow Submarine – The Leningrad Cowboys
She Said She Said – Gov’t Mule
Good Day Sunshine – Jimmy James & The vagabonds
And Your Bird Can Sing – The Flamin’ Groovies
For No One – Liza Minnelli
Doctor Robert – Bozo Allegro
I Want To Tell You – The Lambrettas
Got To Get You Into My Life – Sonny & Cher
Tomorrow Never Knows – The Grateful Dead

Woodstock – New Book

2009-08-01T14:10:00.005+01:00

Another reason for a distinct lack of posting is this new book I've done with my pal Richard Evans, a regular commentator. Richard has done the superb design you'll find inside this book that chronicles the now famous festival. There's 256 pages plus over 200 photographs & Images. It's out now and you can get it from Amazon and all good bookshops.

15 – 18 August 1969 – according to the song the people were half a million strong by the time they got to Woodstock. But in reality no one ever did get to Woodstock. Instead they made it to some alfalfa fields near Bethel – population 3,900 – a hundred miles north of New York City and 60 miles southwest of the town of Woodstock. The Aquarian Music and Art Fair was held at Max Yasgur’s farm in White Lake.

No one among the 500,000 people could have had any idea of just how important the festival would turn out to be. Given the size of the crowd it was all extremely peaceful, especially considering what they had to endure. There were rainstorms, people waited for long periods for something to happen; they also ran short of food, and water, but there seemed to be no shortage of drugs.

Woodstock was a cultural landmark waiting to happen. Ever afterwards people have tried to emulate it; just a few months later at another festival at Altamont Racetrack, near San Francisco it tragically ended with murder and the death of the 60’s dream. It just proves how thin the line between glory and failure can be. At Woodstock nobody kept notes, maybe because no one thought it was that important. It’s only as the telescope of history has gradually been extended that the cultural significance of the 3 days of peace and love has truly been recognised.

Woodstock tells the story of everything that made up that momentous August weekend. From Jimi Hendrix to Janis Joplin, The Who to Joan Baez and Crosby Stills Nash & Young to Joe Cocker. But Woodstock does much more than focus on the 60 odd hours during which events played out. It traces the history of every band that performed, what they performed, how they came to be there, and what effect it had on the careers. The book reveals how it all came to be, as well Woodstock’s lasting legacy.

Whoever it was that coined the phrase – ‘The Woodstock Nation’ – created the zeitgeist. It’s what spawned the ‘Woodstock Generation’. From the day that the festival ended until now, and probably forever, we keep polishing it, perpetuating the myth and reveling in the magic.

Owl Watch – The Two Ring Circus

2009-07-19T07:51:00.008+01:00

A distinct lack of activity on the blog for only one reason. . .work! But everything stopped yesterday for the arrival of the owl men – Alan and Maurice. They were here to ring the owlets. Mrs H. has been worried that the owls had been too quiet and we had seen very little activity from the adults, apart from the pair of them roosting, somewhat appropriately, underneath our barn. The lack of activity during daylight hours was because they have had plenty of dry nights and they have been able to feed their brood. Last year we had 5 chicks so this year with better weather, and as it turns out only two chicks, it's all been a lot easier.

Alan went up the ladder and the whole process began.

Next came the job of weighing them. The are put in this soft cotton sacks to protect them and weighed. One weighed 415 grams the other 380 grams. Their wings were measured which showed they are 7 and a half weeks old – they fledge at 10 weeks.

In the bag they can be placed on their backs and left while the other owlet got weighed; next both of them were ringed with a unique number.
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It's even possible to take them out of the bag – they just lay still and 'play dead'. Did you know that owls have the biggest eyes of any bird?

Then it was time for them to go back in the box. . .these two men made Mrs. H. a very happy woman. . .

Go(Ed)Balls and Go Now!

2009-06-30T14:53:00.001+01:00

The seriously delusional berk, Balls, has got himself embroiled in a fantastic spat with Fraser Nelson the Spectator columnist. You can read it HERE.

All I want is for Balls and his other loony Labour luvvies to bugger off. . .all they need to do is leave their offices tidy for the Conservative that will follow them.

Millionaire Blair at our Expense

2009-06-19T08:38:00.007+01:00

Last year there was a good deal of controversy over the fact that Tony Blair shredded much of the information surrounding his parliamentary expense claims. Here is the heavily 'redacted' claim from September 2007 for £305.50. So not only did the spinmeister shred the evidence, but we paid for it! Really you could make none fo this up and of course nothing will happen to millionaire Blair. The whole thing is almost too amazing for words.

Update

I have found I'm late to the party. Mr Guido Fawkes got there yesterday, I should have known!

Owl Watch Update

2009-06-16T17:53:00.003+01:00

At the weekend we had Alan and Maurice, two experts, come to look inside our owl box. Alan, the man up the ladder, is a bird-ringer who went and opened the lid – inside was the female and two, maybe three young. They were too small to ring and he'll come back in about a month to do it.

Just as he was finishing up the female tried to do a runner out of the front door. Calm as you like Alan just picked her up and held her so Mrs H could get some pictures. Apparently Barn Owls are not vicious like Tawney Owls! In future when Mrs H is putting a fallen bird back in the nest I will no longer need to stand guard with a broom!

Celebrity Politics TV Anyone?

2009-06-14T08:39:00.003+01:00

Muriel Gray knows a thing or two about the telly so it's very revealing what she has written in the Herald on Sunday about Alan Sugar's appointment as 'business tsar' – whatever the hell that is. No one in their right mind can honestly believe that Sugar can do anything for British business; he is after all just a TV presenter. However, what his appointment is ultimately all about is the mindlessness of Brown and his henchman Lord Mandy.

Most damning of all in Ms Gray's piece is this. "Nothing wrong with any of that. It's a terrific show. Sugar does what he's told by the producers, appears to follow a script as he often stumbles over the words, and is probably, if other reality shows are the benchmark, told by the production team which contestant to fire each week."

Read the whole thing and weep for what a nonsense this government has become. Maybe instead of elections we should have Simon Cowell and half a dozen other celebrity judges should help select our politicians. Pick our Politicians or The Ballot Box on the box? We'd probably get more people voting and would they be any less competent or qualified?

60,493,912 of us are marching to the beat of one man with 24,278 'friends'

2009-06-09T21:37:00.004+01:00

So let's get this straight. Gordon Brown, a man elected to serve his constituency in Fife by 24,278, who then becomes Prime Minister in some kind of stitch-up with Tony Blair wants change. He's a man who has brought into government as his de facto No.2 someone who has been disgraced twice and continues to show little more than contempt for everyone who comes into contact with him. He's also a man who has added more unelected people to his front bench than any Prime Minister in living memory. This is the man who is now proposing electoral reform of our democracy. It's bloody staggering!

You'll pardon me for being somewhat sceptical of his reasons. At best he's looking for ways to deflect yet more criticism of his patched up government. At worst he's trying to save his own skin. In fact everything that Gordon Brown does is about 'me', not about the country and the people he constantly claims to serve. Naturally to do a job like PM you have to have a highly, a very highly, developed ego. It seems like we have a man who is so convinced of his own rightness that he does not tolerate dissent, is prepared to sell his soul (to Mandelsdon, if not the Devil) and who is more focused on himself than the job he has to do. Despite all the talk of getting on with the job all he has succeeded in doing is getting on our collective nerves. In a random poll across the country I doubt that Brown would make double figures in the popularity stakes.

And we all thought it couldn't get any worse.

Hollywood to Remake Flipper

2009-06-07T08:18:00.002+01:00

Gordon Brown – Nero Without a Gun (Or the Bullets)

2009-06-06T07:11:00.004+01:00

Gordon Brown when he became PM promised us a government of all the talents and set about granting peerages left, right and centre to bring in people to positions as 'ultra special advisers'. But with this latest reshuffle Brown seems to be bringing in more and more talent' to do jobs that others could just as easily do. Mrs Kinnock, while experienced in Europe, gets a great gig to boost her personal standing and do precisely what? Is there really nobody among the 350 Labour MPs who could do the job?

Of course we've already had Mandelson who is now according to reports defacto Deputy Prime Minister. Lord Adonis is the Transport Minister and Alan Sugar has been given a peerage to be 'Enterprise Tsar'. In many ways the appointment and peerage of Sugar is the worst of all. It's a flagrant attempt to cash in on his profile as a TV face and got little to do with 'enterprise'. It's arguable what anyone in a position like his can actually do. I also doubt, among British business leaders, that Sugar has the highest respect quotient.

Democracies are wonderful things; we are blessed in this country with one that is much better than most. However, Brown's actions are making a mockery of the whole thing. Unelected cronies, hangers on, self servers and out of touch is what most of them are. It's the out of touch bit that's probably the worse thing in all this. But that's Brown's Achilles heal. He has been in government for so long that he has lost touch with people. Not content with bringing people into government his bunker mentality is what has done for him.

There's more than a whiff of "I'm going to take you all down with me." The moral compass was lost a long time ago. His emotional radar never has worked and now it seems the 'brain the size of a planet' has gone into lock down. We are about to witness a very unpleasant few months in which Brown finally implodes before our eyes. Do I feel sorry for him? No, not one bit. But I do feel sorry for Britain though. His arrogance and delusional behaviour has brought the office he coveted for so long down to a level of disrespect I never thought I'd see in my life time. Defiance is not strength. Saying you are, "not going to walk away", does not make you a leader.

Fundamentally Brown is a weak man. He's no leader as he's proved, yet again, over his dithering about Alastair Darling's removal. How can a man who cannot command the respect of his party get the respect of the country – let alone run it. It's all going to get very nasty indeed as Brown impersonates Nero. Unfortunately such is the ineptitude of his cabinet that none of them thought to take a gun, let alone the bullets into the bunker.

The Stones in The Park

2009-06-04T09:41:00.004+01:00

“I hope they don’t think we’re a rock ‘n’ roll outfit.”

The words of Michael Philip Jagger in July 1962 when the only thing he and the rest of the fledgling Rolling Stones wanted to be was a blues band. Seven years later, almost to the day, Sam Cutler who worked for Blackhill Enterprises, the company that arranged the free concerts in Hyde Park, went on stage to announce the band to the hundreds of thousands gathered in the royal park.

“The greatest rock and roll band in the world. They’re incredible; let’s hear it for the Stones!”

It was 5.25pm on Saturday 5 July 1969. For the Rolling Stones it was their first full concert in over 2 years, barring a short, 2 song, cameo at the NME Poll Winners Concert a year earlier that had been Brian Jones last appearance with the band. In June 1969 Brian left the group, setting in motion thirty-three days that would change the Stones forever more. Mick Taylor replaced him, before Brian then spawned a dozen conspiracy theories by dying in mysterious circumstances. Surrounding these events was uncertainty about the band being able to tour America due to Mick and Keith’s, as well as Brian’s, drug busts.

We will never know all that happened between Mick and Keith and the rest of the band over Brian’s situation as a Rolling Stone. It’s quite likely they can’t remember themselves all that went on during the later part of 1968 and early 1969. The truth always depends on who tells it, and in this case there were numerous different truths. For the last 40 years there have been stories and whispers from people saying that Brian wanted to leave of his own accord. This was probably true. He had lost his band mates along the way and he knew he was never going to regain control of the group that he had formed.

The Hyde Park concert was far from the greatest gig the Stones ever performed, but this was the dawn of the ‘Greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll Band in the World’. Come December at the Stones’ finale to their hugely successful American tour – the massive free concert at Altamont, just outside San Francisco – things almost went spectacularly and horribly wrong. But life turns upon events, and the Rolling Stones survived to become the Greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll Band in the World, not just because Sam Cutler called them that for the very first time at Hyde Park in the summer of ’69 and throughout the US tour. They have done so because of all that happened over those fateful thirty odd days, forty years ago.

My new book is out this week and is available at all good bookshops as well as online from Amazon.

Lies, Spin, Connivance, B/S, Total Bollocks and Wind Farms

2009-05-24T08:03:00.005+01:00

The opening this week of the Whitelee wind farm outside Glasgow exposes the lying and deceitfulness of both the wind farm industry and Alex Salmond.

Hurrah they all trumpeted! The 322-megawatt wind farm is going to be able to power the whole of Glasgow. Except it isn't. Government figures show that it will likely operate at a capacity of 28% which means it will be far from effective but just as expensive. It will do little more than keep half of Glasgow’s lights on, and not do anything to power TVs, dishwashers, tumble dryers et al.

Of course it will make a lot of people a lot of money because of the subsidies that are paid. Especially the Spanish owned company that built it and the landowners on whose land it's built. We will be paying massive subsidies so that these ultimate examples of gesture politics can keep turning.

Meanwhile, according to Jason Ormiston the former PR windbag for Scottish Renewables, which represents the wind industry, the vast majority of wind farms were sited out with highly sensitive landscape areas. What utter bollocks. Try coming to the Lammermuir Hills where most of the wind farms are built on AGLVs (officially designated Areas of Great Landscape Vale) and a SSSI in the case of the Aikengall wind farm. He also said, "One of the biggest threats to wild land is climate change and one of the most effective responses to it is the sensible development of renewable energy." He said this in his capacity of Chief Executive of Scottish Renewables, having been promoted from PR spokesman.

He went on to say, "The industry will continue to work with a rigorous planning system so that the building of productive renewable energy projects in the right places continues to follow good practice." He, and his organization, cares not a jot where they are built, just as long as they are. The wind farm planned by that defender of the Scottish Borders landscape, the Duke of Roxburghe on land he owns in the Lammermuir Hills at Fallago Ridge is case in point. It s on peat bogs that will be forever ruined by the concrete bases that are the size of football pitches that will be needed if the wind farm gets approval. It has been awaiting a decision by the Scottish Government's reporter following a public inquiry for over a year now. The reason that none has been forthcoming is nothing to do with the fact that it will complete the decimation of these remote hills, but because the MOD objected. Their radar will not work properly, creating 'holes' in its effectiveness. Ironically it would not be able to 'see' if an aircraft was approaching the Torness Nuclear Power station.

So desperate is the Duke’s company to develop this wind farm that they have got the former Conservative minister and now MP for Kensington and Chelsea, Sir Malcolm Rifkind, to write to Des Browne and another Labour Minister pointing out that they are acting contrary to the Prime Minster’s stated aims.
"As you know, the Prime Minister has indicated very recently the importance the government attaches to the development of alternative energy projects, and clearly wind farms must be a very important part of this overall strategy. It would be unfortunate if one arm of the government was pursuing a policy with such rigidity that it conflicted with the broader arms of the government."
Now that’s a first. A Tory helping the Prime Minister!

Then we have the downright untruths spouted by the great leader who opened the Whitelee wind farm. According to Alex Salmond, "Whitelee in its current form is already flying the flag for onshore wind power in Europe. The benefits of this investment go beyond South Lanarkshire and beyond our real economy. It is an investment in Scotland's potential and ambition to lead the clean, green energy revolution."

Back in January 2007 Alex Salmond was unequivocal. "There is a real difficulty with public acceptance of onshore wind. There should be a cap on future developments. We should concentrate the development of onshore wind into suitable areas.”
He went to say that financial support for onshore wind farms should be looked at again as he believed there was a danger onshore wind developers were getting too much financial support. Of course all that was done in order to help the SNP get elected and gain votes in areas where there was rising opposition to wind farms being built against public opinion.

This volte-face from Mr. Salmond is not totally unexpected; he is after all a politician. But such is the courting of the Scottish government by the renewables industry that even I’m staggered by the complete change in attitude. Does he not understand that wind turbines are inefficient, make little money for Scotland – other than for the landowners and the renewable companies, which are often foreign owned?

Are there any wind farms in Mr. Salmond’s constituencies? In fact how many wind farms have been approved in SNP constituencies as opposed to opposition constituencies? It might make for interesting analysis.

Nadine Dorries MP, Ex-Blogger?

2009-05-23T10:53:00.005+01:00

Nadine Dorries the Tory MP has had her blog taken down overnight. Apparently her less than well thought out remarks on the Barclay Brothers having some kind of agenda against British politics has caught up with her. As I said yesterday her new media profile could back fire on her, and it has. I read her blog last evening before I went to bed and I have to say it made pretty dire reading. Having read it occasionally I didn't think it was that well written and having watched her on Question Time a couple of weeks ago my immediate reaction was, thinks she's smarter than she is. She is/was clearly in a bit of a spin over all the Telegraph's coverage and she announced on her blog that she is going on holiday. I think she needs one. I bet David Cameron thinks likewise.

Update
There's a short article by Ms Dorries in the Indy, it does not reflect well on her. She calls what is happening to MPs, "torture" – a very poor choice of words. She also complains that MPs should be paid what they are worth; I think a lot of us feel that too. I get offered some small amounts to write some books, I accept it and get on with it, or I don't and I don't. I'm not complaining, it's the way things are. She's been in the House for 4 years and already she's a fully paid up member of the club.

Ryanair's Results as bad as British Airways?

2009-05-22T12:15:00.004+01:00

British Airways losses this year are large, but none too surprising given what has happened in the last 12 months, although if I were Willie Walsh I'm not sure I would have gone on the BBC and said there were absolutely no signs of any recovery. Still, we shall see.

In a few weeks the Ryanair results will be published; all may not be good at Michael Gerard Joseph Mary O'Leary's low cost carrier. Last year the airline made a profit of Euros 481 million, despite a loss of euros 101M in the 4th quarter, that's the one ending in March 2008. This year Ryanair, up until the end of the third quarter is showing a cumulative profit of euro 134M, compared to 582 million in 2008. Ryanair's full year results are due out in June and it's hard not to believe that they will not be showing a loss for the full year. It could be anything – 50 million Euros, 100 million. . . what am I bid?

Could We Have Some Government Again Soon?

2009-05-22T10:37:00.005+01:00

Nadine Dorries on Today this morning can be heard HERE.

Several points.
• Nadine Dorries has turned herself into a bit of a media turn. . . it may well back-fire
• This morning she argued her case pretty well against the questioning
• However, she, like a number of MPs has to 'get' the mood of the country a little more. Saying that it's a McCarthy style witch hunt is not credible.
• She also has to be careful arguing the 'we are worth this much (salary + allowances)' so we shouldn't be attacked.
• I think she has some good points to make, but the arrogance of some MPs and I'm thinking of the likes of Hoon, Darling, Blears here, Ministers who expect people to do as they are told, when they are totally comfortable with flipping their homes and making money as a result, is not going to wash.
• Ms Dorries in in the kitchen and the heat having been turned up is finding it difficult to cope with it. Nobody was dragged kicking and screaming to be on the ballot paper. There is just the hint of hypocrisy in all this.

Having said all that, would many of us have done any different to what it appears the majority of MPs have done? I think not. Most of us would have been lining up to line our pockets. However, that's what leadership is about, and it's what ministers just don't seem to grasp. If you get the big gigs then you have to be above reproach. Gordon Brown going on TV saying, "I was the only one trying to get this problem fixed" is absurd. He now won't deal with his ministers who flipped and flapped and milked the system. He cannot sack Hazel Blears because it would begin the domino effect.

As in all such situations we shall see some good people go from politics; however, we have needed the system to be fixed for a long while. We can but hope that the fires of the public's outraged indignation will burn themselves out soon. We need our politicians to get back to the job of government.

The Brown Snouts of Discovery

2009-05-18T22:08:00.006+01:00

Nick Brown, who suspended David Chaytor MP over his memory lapse about when his mortgage was paid up, claimed £18,800 over four years in unreceipted expenses for food consumed at his designated second home in Newcastle. Anything to do with why he has consistently voted against a transparent parliament? Then again Mr Brown, as a former Minister of Agriculture, knows a thing or two about snouts in the trough. . .

UPDATE
Mr Brown has since said that his claims were "not unreasonable" and reflected real costs that he had incurred. He claimed £87,708 under the second homes allowance between 2004 and 2008 that included £18,800 for food – he regularly got £400 a month during recess without receipts. According to Mr Brown, "This has to be seen in the context of my working life. I am working flat out for the people that I represent and the politics that I believe in."

Let's hope for the sake of his political career that his voters believe him. On the other hand he will from here on in have to look in the mirror every morning and tell himself that he's good, and moral and what he did was completely right.

One of his colleagues in the Labour whip's office, Ms Butler has issued a statement denying she had claimed for a whirlpool bath. She said all the claims were for "legitimate expenditure". She went on to say, "I totally refute the allegation that I claimed for a whirlpool. I am taking advice on legal action,"

Like some other MPs she has threatened legal action. Just how many have taken any?

Be Careful Out There. . .

2009-05-17T12:12:00.001+01:00

According to the News of the World Apprentice contestant Ben Clarke, 'swallowed a live goldfish in a sick stunt at a birthday bash'. It was part of a table decoration and he gulped it from a shot glass, 'forcing it to die a horrific death dissolving in stomach acid. He could face an investigation by the RSPCA.'

Mrs H cuts up slugs with scissors. I've advised her to adopt a disguise and lay low for a while.

Tavish Scott Should Not Hide From The Truth

2009-05-17T10:27:00.006+01:00

Back in March 2007 I wrote on this blog about the Runaway Gravy Train. Part of that post was about Tavish Scott and his property developing. It followed on from George Reid, who was retiring as the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament calling for a radical overhaul of MSPs allowances. This is a part of what I wrote.

The big money fiddle is in the amounts that MSPs can claim for accommodation in Edinburgh. Mr Reid chose to save the taxpayer money by staying in a hotel; many choose to buy second homes in the city.

Tavish Scott, the Transport Minister and Lib Dem, is another that’s climbed aboard the gravy train. He first of all lived in his sister's Edinburgh flat, bought it and then sold it for a profit of over £30,000 Mr. Scott now has a mortgage on a 'substantial' Morningside property that he apparently shares with a BBC journalist. When questioned Mr Scott has used the 'no comment' defence, probably hoping that things will blow over. Why should they? Why should he operate within the letter of the code but clearly sit outside the standards of behaviour that we expect from our MSP's. We have so far paid over £50,000 towards Mr Scott's properties, he's pocketed a decent sum of money, is potentially in line to make more and he can't even be bothered to say anything other than, "I'm not going to comment on anything to do with this."

Fast forward to the Herald on Sunday today.

The Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats was last night refusing to reveal whether he paid capital gains tax (CGT) on the profits made on the first of two taxpayer-funded flats. A spokeswoman for Tavish Scott, who made a £36,000 profit in 2005 after selling a publicly-subsidised property, refused to give an answer on the "private" matter.

Private matter? No it's bloody not it's our money. How can he be so out of tune with the mood of the nation? Just because he's an MSP and a long way from Westminster doesn't mean he can just plead that it's a private matter. In the last Lib-Dem Manifesto it quoted the then leader Nichol Stephen as saying "I want to see the government consultation process reformed...we should give them (the people of Scotland) the facts, meet them face to face, ask their opinion and then tell them the truth." It's hypocrisy - nothing more, nothing less. He, like many of our politicians, has lost sight of what they are there for. It's not self-advancement or anything about self. It's all about service.

It's not about whether or not MSPs have followed the rules, it runs much deeper than that; Tavish Scott is showing contempt for the electorate. Of course he's far from alone and is just one of the 'public servants' who thinks they are better than those they serve.

The Brownies

2009-05-17T07:10:00.003+01:00

David Chaytor MP was yesterday suspended from the Parliamentary Labour Party; the man who did the deed was none other than Chief Whip Nick Brown, one of PM Brown's most loyal allies. He's also someone who has consistently voted against a transoparent parliament. Could it be because he ranks 42 out of 645 MPs in the level of their expenditure? So far the Daily Telegraph have not trained their keyboards on the MP for Newcastle Upon Tyne, it can only be a matter of time.

Owl Watch Update

2009-05-16T21:12:00.004+01:00

Mrs H. was up early this morning and captured the owl, through the bathroom window, out hunting for food. It was a very wet night and with owlets and a mate to feed he needed extra time.

The Tory, The SNP and The Cosy Alliance

2009-05-16T20:11:00.007+01:00

Malcolm Rifkind QC is the Conservative MP for Kensington and Chelsea. From all the information that is available it appears he has never voted on a transparent parliament and he's someone who votes well below the average amongst MPs, yet he seems happy to take on a lobbying job for North British Windpower, a company trying to get permission to build a giant wind farm in the Lammermuir Hills in the Scottish Borders.

Despite, it would appear, after a public enquiry well over a year ago, and the Scottish Government's Reporter recommending against this wind farm, the SNP government are doing everything in their power to find a way to get it approved. The reason that the wind farm was rejected is because the MOD have objected to it because it will create 'holes' in their radar. The radar that they use to see if there might be a possible threat against the Torness Nuclear power station, which is not many miles east of the Fallago Ridge wind farm site.

Now why would Mr Rifkind, whose constituents are a good way away from the Lammermuir Hills, have an interest in such a thing? Could it be the offer of the dreaded wonga! Or is he just so mad keen on wind farms that he sees it as his duty? I wonder if he consulted the local Conservative MSP in Berwickshire to gauge public opinion? I doubt it. Has Mr Rifkind ever been to the Lammermuirs to see for himself the scale of the developments of windfarms? Having moved south after losing his Edinburgh Pentland's seat I don't suppose he really cares.

And while we're on the subject how come the Energy Consents Unit here in Scotland seems so cosy with North British Windpower, to the extent that they apparently offered to go to London to meet with the MOD, along with NBWP? It seems that there's an agenda afoot. Let's cover the South of Scotland with turbines, an area where the SNP have absolutely no chance of ever winning a seat outright, so that we can keep turbines away from all those SNP strongholds.

Monopolygate?

2009-05-16T08:41:00.002+01:00

Guido Fawkes is asking, "The MPs expense scandal is un-named. “Expense-gate” somehow isn’t right. Guido likes “The Troughalypse”, though that isn’t self-descriptive. Maybe “Snoutgate”

For me it should be Monopoly-gate They move their houses around with abandon. They use our money as if it isn’t real and get more without really having to do anything. Only problem is the ‘go to jail’ card seems to be missing.

Getting Closer to Buddy Holly

2009-05-13T07:31:00.002+01:00

Spencer Leigh writes meticulously researched books on music. His most recent title is Everyday: Getting Closer to Buddy Holly and it is a fantastic piece of work that will delight any fan of Buddy and anyone interested in musical and cultural history. Spencer has interviewed countless numbers of people who knew Buddy, worked with him or were simply touched by his music. In the introduction Spencer writes. "In 1984 Ian Dury made an album called 4000 Weeks Holiday. The title scared the hell out of me because I realised that's all the time we've got on earth." Well my advice is to spend part of one of those weeks reading Spencer's book. You can see details HERE before popping into your local bookshop to order and buy it.

The World's Most Expensive Photo?

2009-05-09T10:26:00.002+01:00

This photo cost $300,000 and one man his job!

How Much is a Moral Compass?

2009-05-08T07:08:00.002+01:00

. . . and where do you buy one? No doubt if you're an MP it's from John Lewis and by the looks of the Prime Minister's expenses in this morning's Telegraph you definitely charge it to us, the taxpayer.

Apart from charging twice for his plumbing repairs, no doubt a genuine error, and trying to get his kid's blinds paid for I'm sure our PM has done nothing outside of the rules. Debating how daft are the rules will carry on even after the new ones eventually come into force, but that's to a large extent not the issue here. Gordon Brown has long wagged on about his moral compass, played up his standing as a son of the manse, I'm just an ordinary guy type stuff, yet what his expenses prove is that he is out for himself, and his family, and bugger us the tax payer. It's no defence to say it's 'within the rules' and"I'm the one who is going to change them."

Ten days after Blair announced he was standing down Brown switched his second home to that of his constituency house in Fife. In that way he's bagged a hat full of cash and is laughing all the way to the bank. He knew very well what he was doing. His moral compass should have said, hang on a minute, ordinary people can't move there properties around like a house on a Monopoly board. If you're a leader then you have to lead by example not just by telling others what to do, shouting the odds or claiming that you are a decent guy. What Gordon Brown has done is indefensible. Yes others from every party have done similar but he's the one at the top of the totem pole. And it's not just since he became PM. He elected to live in a flat while he was Chancellor, not in the grace and favour home he was entitled to. This enabled him to claim for it as his second residence and therefore build up his property portfolio.

So what do we have so far. A catalogue of ministerial nose-bagging led by the Vasco de Gama of MPs expenses who has regularly consulted his moral compass to ensure he remains just an "ordinary guy " and of course, "within the rules." It's just a pity he wasn't as prudent with the country's money as he's been with his own.

John Kenneally, VC

2009-05-06T08:01:00.004+01:00

For reasons too complex, and probably not too fascinating I was googling anyone who was Irish who had been awarded the Victoria Cross when I came across this obituary in the Times. Here's a taster

John Kenneally won his VC as a lance corporal in the Irish Guards during the penultimate phase of the Tunisian campaign in April 1943. . . John Patrick Kenneally was an assumed name. He was the illegitimate son of a wealthy Jewish textile manufacturer in Manchester. . . His mother was an 18-year-old un-married daughter of a Birmingham pharmacist, who was disowned by her family. His mother earned enough as a lady's hairdresser and a high-class prostitute to give him a good education at King Edward's, Birmingham. . . He deserted, joining a gang of rough Irish building labourers, whose leader purloined for him an identity card and national insurance number, belonging to an Irishman. Armed with this new identity, he enlisted in the Irish Guards - no questions asked.

You can read the whole thing HERE....it really is fascinating. There's some more HERE, including some photographs

The Return of Quango Watch. . .it's Rocket Science

2009-05-05T07:35:00.006+01:00

William Roe is the chairman of an Edinburgh based consultancy firm named Rocket Science (oh how very bloody 80s). The 'internationally recognised facilitator' is also Chairman of Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE). So it will probably come as no surprise that HIE are a customer of the Edinburgh based Rocket Science who also have offices in London and Newcastle.

According to the Scotsman, "The firm recently had to repay an £8,000 consultancy fee to HIE following claims it had plagiarised information on a report on skills utilisation. HIE is now reviewing all reports from the firm to discover whether the error was a one-off or not." It sort of confirms your worst fears about consultants.

It gets worse, "The agency has awarded 15 contracts to Rocket Science since 2005, totalling about £103,000." What have they been for? International facilitation?

Mr Roe was recently appointed Chairman of the Scottish Executive's 21st Century Social Work Group. Mr Roe gets paid £47,905 per year for 2 and a half days a week at HIE. We can presume he also gets paid by 21st Century social work, which is also our money.

Overall not a bad ride on the Scottish gravy train. The Scotsman said that HIE are doing an internal audit of their relationship with Rocket Science and a report will be sent to Audit Scotland. Any chance Rocket Science will have to pay anything back? Any chance anyone will lose their job at HIE; particularly Mr Roe? Trouble is Rocket Science also work for Audit Scotland!

Well done to the Scotsman, and John Ross in particular, for highlighting this story. This is what they should be doing as a newspaper, getting stuck in. For too long the Scotsman has been towing the line and not doing an serious investigative stuff. What they have to do now is keep on the case and not just drop it like they have before.

Bob Dylan in Edinburgh

2009-05-04T10:23:00.010+01:00

Last night it was Bob Dylan at the Edinburgh Playhouse, not a vast shed with total audience disconnection, thank goodness. I'd planned to meet my old friend, who is Dylan's promoter here in the UK, but he couldn't make it up from London; so what to do with the spare ticket? After phoning around no one either needed it or could make it so Mrs H. gamely agreed to come with me. Gamely, because she's not a Dylan fan and she in all honestly would have preferred a night in front of the TV.

We got there to find we had two seats in the directors box – help yourself to wine, we didn't as it's a long drive back to the Borders and we hadn't decided who was driving (I think Mrs H. had already decided it was, not unreasonably, me). His Bobness came on sharp at 7.30 with his band consisting of 2 guitarists, bass, drums and a pedal steel playing multi-instrumentalist – they were magnificent. I've not seen Dylan live in nearly 40 years but I'd been briefed by the Dylanafia that it's not like it used to be. I'd heard Modern Times, liked it but hadn't bought it to add to all the 1960s albums. Did I enjoy it?

Short answer, yes, but not exactly or overwhelmingly. It was a great vibe with wonderful sounds, although the tunes were barely recognisable from the originals. He played for 2 hours and did not say a single word to the audience, which strangely enhanced the whole affair. It was like eavesdropping on a rehearsal without a single break. Except they did go off after an hour and 45 minutes. So certain were the audience that he would be back that hardly a soul shouted for more. Everyone just waited. This is the set list and Bob played keyboards except where indicated.

1. Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat
2. Lay, Lady, Lay (Bob on guitar)
3. Tangled Up In Blue
4. When The Deal Goes Down
5. Rollin' And Tumblin'
6. Tryin' To Get To Heaven
7. Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again
8. Sugar Baby
9. High Water (For Charley Patton) (guitar)
10. I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met) (guitar)
11. Po' Boy
12. Highway 61 Revisited
13. Ain't Talkin'
14. Summer Days
15. Like A Rolling Stone
(encore)
16. All Along The Watchtower
17. Just Like A Woman (guitar)
18. Blowin' In The Wind

Dylan didn't introduce the band, but these are they
Tony Garnier - bass (originally a member of the very brilliant Asleep at the Wheel)
George Recile - drums
Stu Kimball - rhythm guitar
Denny Freeman - lead guitar
Donnie Herron - violin, banjo, electric mandolin

Best moments for me were Highway 61, All Along the Watchtower, Rollin and Tumblin, I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met) and Like a Rolling Stone. Afterwards it was interesting watching people leave; there was none of the usual ecstatic, smiling, faces you see after a great concert; maybe it was the age of the audience. We met up with a well-known Edinburgh crime writer and another friend who is a jeweller – they had both taken their sons. As we stood having a drink the writer said, "My son was desperate for Dylan to play acoustic guitar so he could shout Judas!" Made my evening.

Anyone Caught Bird Flu?

2009-05-03T11:50:00.002+01:00

Is it true that, like politicians and governments, we get the news we deserve? Well I’d like someone to explain what we have done to get the hysterical news coverage over swine-flu. Today we get headlines like ‘Tamiflu: What you MUST know as swine flu threatens to strike,’ in the Mail on Sunday. While the Sunday Telegraph gives us – Flu pandemic could be as severe as 1968. The Sunday Times wades in with – ‘New swine flu alert despite doubts over dangers’. It’s the second item on the BBC’s home page.

Contrast the New York Times. I get their daily email news digest and there’s a small piece way down their headlines in the New York section. Similarly the LA Times, which is a great deal closer to Mexico, has barely a mention. Overall it’s a much lower level of reporting and a lot less hysterical. I’d tell you what is in the French and Dutch and German papers but I can’t read the language, but I bet it’s less there too There’s no doubt that something is sadly wrong with our type of media coverage of all these global scares and doom laden scenarios.

However, consider this. In America there are 160 confirmed cases of the virus and in Britain 15. There are thousands of times more visitors to Mexico from the USA than there are from Britain; added to which there are millions of Mexicans visit the US every year. So how come we have so many cases compared to the USA?

I don’t doubt that the two things are unconnected but it does seem that in our 24-hour news obsessed country that we just love a disaster.

Not So Divine, Jim Devine

2009-05-03T10:14:00.002+01:00

According to the Sunday Herald this morning, Jim Devine, the Labour MP for Livingstone, has claimed a total of nearly £17,000 in "car" and "mileage" costs, saying his office manager drove him around his constituency in her own vehicle and he repaid her costs in full. But the office manager, Marion Kinley, told the Sunday Herald: "I received only £60."

I suppose this would be the reason that Mr Devine has never voted on the issue of a transparent parliament. Anything to do with the fact that he’s ranked 21 out of our 645 MPs in the level of expenses they claim? With a 2,680 majority he's one who's likely under threat from the SNP (Mr Devine replaced Robin Cook following the former Foreign Secretary's death)

We Have Gone Bonkers

2009-05-01T19:42:00.005+01:00

We have totally lost the plot over swine flu. This from Iain Dale

"And I gather the couple who got it on their honeymoon have just been signed up by Max Clifford. Jesus wept. Doesn't that just about sum up our society?"

Watching the various news programmes tonight I found myself shouting at the TV given the absurdity of the way in which things were reported. Best, or is that worst, was ITV Borders news who had a GP on who made a mockery of credible medical assessment. I just seemed so pleased with himself for being on the telly!

UPDATE

It seems, according to the BBC on Saturday morning, that the flu outbreak may just be a seasonal affair. The number of deaths appears to have dropped by around 40%. You have to ask yourself, are the number of suspected cases in the UK and the over 600 being tested anything to do with the hysterical media coverage?

Not Trumptown but Trumpcountry....

2009-04-30T07:46:00.006+01:00

According to The Donald's man about Scotland, George Sorial, not content with building the world's greatest golf course and a hotel and hundreds of houses it appears that Team Trump are to buy Scotland. At least that's what The Scotsman is implying with it's headline – First Menie, next Scotland – Trump expands. According to Sorial, the managing director for international development at the Trump Organisation,

"I can't comment specifically on anything. However, we have been and are looking at a number of distressed properties in Scotland, in the UK, in Europe and globally. There are several very attractive projects right now in Scotland where we have ongoing discussions. They are in the areas of our core business – homes, hotels and leisure resorts. It can be situation where a developer has got in trouble with the banks, or where a developer simply has run out of money and doesn't have the funding to bring a project forward. We have said over and over again that, although there are some very obvious problems with the global economy, there are plenty of opportunities out there for a developer with a good cash position."

Don't you just love the Trumpies. They think we dim enough to buy this kind of b/s. Pound to a penny nothing of the kind is happening in Scotland. It's the business equivalent of a deflector shield. Somethings afoot in Trumpworld.

In The Name of God Go. . .part 2

2009-04-29T15:48:00.008+01:00

The official web site of the Prime Minister's Office, and more specifically the bit about the petitions, seem to be tampering with the information. The petition that states – We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to resign, has been shortened to just 'resign' on the front page. Why? 'Cos it's all so horribly embarrassing for Gordon Brown who seems to be completely losing his grip. Even Baron Mandy in his interview at the weekend spoke in a way to suggest he knows that they're doomed....then as long as Brown is in charge I guess we all are.

I urge you all to sign here....it's already the most popular petition on the site.

Scottish Minister Being Deliberately Unhelpful

2009-04-27T09:16:00.003+01:00

Last Wednesday Jim Hume (South of Scotland Lib Dem MSP asked when the Scottish Executive reporter’s findings in relation to the Fallago Rig wind farm public inquiry would be published. Bearing in mind enquiry took place in February 2008 so it is now well over a year not an unreasonable question.

This was the answer from the minister. Possibly the most unhelpful answer in the history of parliamentary answers.

Jim Mather: The report from the Public Local Inquiry on the Fallago Rig wind farm will be published on the day the ministerial decision is announced. A news release will be issued and the decision details, including the Inquiry report will be made available on the Energy Consents website www.scotland.gov.uk/enterprise/energy.

Of course it's taking so long because it's turned into a matter on national security. The RAF don't want the windfarm because it affects their radar and creates black holes. Torness Nuclear power station is just down the road.

In The Name of God Go!

2009-04-27T09:08:00.002+01:00

During the early months of World War 2 with Chamberlain both ill and his position increasingly untenable there were calls in parliament for him to resign. Among the Tory members who spoke out against Chamberlain was Leo Amery, a man not noted for his oratory but who on this occasion surpassed himself. “You have sat too long for any good you have been doing. Depart, I say let us have done with you. In the name of God go!”

On Friday a petition was added to the downing Street web site asking Gordon Brown to resign. It quickly reached 500 signatures and by this morning it's well on the way to 12,500. I suspect by the end of the week it could be at 100,000. Who knows where it will end up. You can sign HERE

BT Scotland, Not So Green As They Could Be

2009-04-22T06:51:00.003+01:00

The Scotsman is running a top 50 Scottish Green Giants list and today the top ten will be announced in Edinburgh. On the list already announced at No.13 is Brendan Dick, The director of BT in Scotland has led the company's climate-change programme, and has been an ambassador for Prince Charles on corporate responsibility for the past year. The Prince said Mr Dick was a "natural leader" who inspires others.

Well 'tis a pity that BT Scotland seem unable to provide the level of broadband services in many remote parts of Scotland that are necessary. Here in the Lammermuirs the exchanges are so old that some people are still unable to get broadband and those of us who are get a half meg line. Broadband for all, at decent speeds, would allow many small businesses to relocate to the rural parts of Britain and reduce commuting by allowing more people to work at home. Our local Community Council has even offered them money to upgrade the Longformacus exchange, but no joy. Sometimes it's better to look at what's happening in your own back yard that worrying about corporate climate change programmes.

Why Bother with Gaelic Roadsigns?

2009-04-22T06:39:00.003+01:00

According to the Scotsman this morning a delegation from Bord na Gaidhlig, the national Gaelic agency, will today try to find a way forward with senior councillors from Caithness who oppose the introduction of bilingual road signs in the area. The councillors have consistently argued against Gaelic-English signs, despite their being part of Highland Council's Gaelic Action Plan.

All this occurs as Caithness prepares to host the Royal National Mod, Gaelic's premier arts and music event, next year. Arthur Cormack, Bord na Gaidhlig's chairman, who will head the delegation for the meeting in Inverness, said: "We are keen to meet the councillors to hear what they have to say. We have not had any direct contact with people who are apparently complaining, and we want to hear the issues first hand." Did he say this in Gaelic and then has someone translated it?

Two thoughts. With around 50,000 Gaelic speakers in Scotland what is the point of road signs in both languages? If there was an independent Scotland how long before all signs across Scotland would go the same way? We already have a sign on the A1 saying 'Welcome to Scotland' in both languages. Given that the visitors to Scotland are almost to a man and woman unable to read Gaelic why is there a sign welcoming them in that language?

Mandy Watch No.11

2009-04-19T21:00:00.002+01:00

Lord Mandelson told the BBC that the matter was now closed and no-one in government was implicated in Mr McBride's dealings. "That is where the matter, I believe, can rest."

I've just about stopped laughing. His Lordships tells us we can all stop worrying about this and by golly we all shall. Now I know he has to say this, but the manner in which he says it is so irritating. I've even a good mind to go back on my post agreeing with him last week, just because he's so bloody arrogant!

Gordon Brown is Finished

2009-04-19T08:50:00.004+01:00

Anyone who has been a regular on this blog will know that I'm no fan of Gordon Brown. But, honestly? Not even I thought he was this bad. Back in May 2007 under a post entitled, Never Make Dreams Your Master, I said.
Previously the one thing that people perhaps could say about Brown is they respected him for what he has done, now even that is unravelling. So what are we left with? A man who isn't actually very likeable, who is fond of telling us all how wrong we are and how he knows what's best. At the same time those close to the clunking one have been working double time to try and soften his image, they know how damaging it is. Yet no matter what they do he will never be able to pull it off. Gordon Brown will never a leader be.

Five days later I commented on The Last Ten Years – It was Nothing To Do With Me.
It was after his first speech as PM in which he famously said.
He was to move away from the "cult of celebrity" and sleaze allegations that had tarnished Mr Blair's years in office and that his premiership would be guided by a "moral compass" instilled in him by his father, a Scots minister of religion, and his mother.

By June I went all Oscar Wilde and talked of The Importance of Being Earnest. It was in response to Milliband's appointment as Foreign Minister and the bringing in of 'experts' who would be made peers to do specific jobs.
Government of all the talents my big toe, it's Gordon Brown trying to appear to be all embracing while he will continue to be what he's always been - a controller and a man who is exclusive rather than inclusive. This is not going to be a lot of fun.

By May last year I was getting desperate, Gordon Brown – Back Door Man
People talk of Brown's intellect, his work ethic, his brain, all the other attributes that he is supposed to have in abundance, yet has any one ever talked about his leadership skills? It's too easy to say, ah yes, but he was always been in Tony's shadow, but he’s had time to do his own thing and he’s been found wanting. No matter what Brown does he has not the charisma, the charm, the interpersonal skills - that special something that leaders have and those who are their number's two's always think they have - that's GB's biggest problem and always will be. He thinks he's cleverer than everyone around him, which he might well be in intellectual terms, but IQ, brainpower, cleverness, and being a bit of a know it all will never out trump someone who has that special something. Like it or not Blair had it and Brown will forever be the man in search of it.

In the same month I was asking if he was Standing on the Shoulders of Midgets.
Twenty-five years ago I was on a plane somewhere over America when I picked up a copy of Time magazine with Ronald Reagan’s picture on the cover. The lead article was about Reagan’s style of managing his team. He said, “Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority, and don't interfere as long as the policy you've decided upon is being carried out.” It’s the total antithesis of what Gordon Brown is about and it’s why he can’t hack it. As a No.2 his power was based upon tripping people up on the detail, as a No.1 it’s his Achilles heal. He just doesn’t have what it takes to be a leader and the more that the young guns defend him it only highlights what’s wrong with his leadership.

By June it was another question. Are No.2s Always Brown?
Leadership is an art and it’s also something that has a huge deal to do with confidence. It’s why I have constantly said that Brown is no number one, he’s a No.2 and always will be; sort of appropriate really….

By July 2008 I was loosing it Gordon Brown, Superstar

“Gordon Brown, Gordon Brown
Who are you, what have you sacrificed
Gordon Brown, Superstar 
Do you think you're what you say you are?”

Gordon Brown is no superstar; he’s just damaged goods.

At the Labour Party Conference in the autumn I noted that Gordon Brown was Like A Worn Out Record
"This is not about rhetoric", says the Prime Minister. It's not? That's what this and his entire government is based upon. He doesn't do leadership; he does talking. Politics as we all know has a lot to do with the ancient art of smoke and mirrors, but it also, just occasionally, has to do with not just talking the talk, sometimes you have to walk the walk too. Fundamentally it's all about leadership and it's what Brown doesn't get about it. He thinks the more he talks the talk about “fairness” and “rising to challenges” it will all magically come right on the night. Just about everyone in Britain have had their pockets picked by Labour with stealth tax after stealth tax making things ever worse, while all Brown can do is blame it on the global crunch. Yes of course there are global issues but our problems are also domestic, labour-made, issues. It's been an accident waiting to happen and Brown has overseen this mess - much of which is his own making.

A couple of days later I suggested that.
Gordon Brown will become a similar object of derision for Conservatives and those who vote labour out at the next election. He will become the man whose legacy will keep Labour out of power for years to come. No matter what happens he’ll be the Brown eyed loathsome man.

Over the past week or so the McBride scandal and now the addition of Balls, Whelen and co. has dragged Brown to a new low. In the Sunday Telegraph there is an article by Tom Bower. It is THE best article I've read anywhere on the calamity that is Labour and the unmitigated disaster that is Gordon Brown – especially since becoming PM. The simple fact is that Brown does not have the ability to lead. He's like a guy I once worked with that was recruited from academia. His response to everything was, let's write a paper. These papers looked impressive, were big and were full of graphs and diagrams. However, very little of what he proposed made any sense – fine in the confines of the classroom, no good in the real world of cut and thrust business. Brown and his boys (because that is largely the problem, they have little experience) can go on and on talking the talk – they just can't walk the walk.

What's to happen? Well, we're going to have a completely discredited government under a leader who cannot lead, doesn't know how to lead at a time when we need leadership and a strong government more than we've ever needed one. The blogosphere (not keen on the term, but it'll do) did well under Guido's full frontal attack last week. However, the MSM, and especially the newspapers have been stung into action. They are having difficulties coping with declining sales and Ad revenue; they don't need their credentials as journalists and commentators called into question. We will have a run of stories on the government from papers anxious to show their Lobby correspondents are not tame hacks doing Labour's bidding.

Watch their space....it's going to get bloody.

Labour Gone For A Generation...

2009-04-18T22:12:00.004+01:00

The story in the News of the World on Sunday about Labour's General Secretary being fully involved in the Red Rag web site and now the Sunday Times breaking the story that Ed Balls has been 'running' McBride come as yet more seismic shocks for Labour and Gordon Brown.

You will need to the read the full shocking details for yourself, but suffice to say. Is it any wonder that things in this country are the way they are? Government ministers are so busy sniping at each other that they are too preoccupied to run the country. Of course they all see the writing on the wall for Labour who are hopelessly out of touch and will be out of office as soon as there's an election. The SNP will decimate Labour in Scotland; the Tories in England, which means Labour will be gone for a generation. . .at least.

Owl Watch is Back

2009-04-18T08:31:00.005+01:00

For several weeks now Mrs H. has been worrying about her owls and whether or not they would return to the nest that they used last year, which is in full view of the house. The nest has been extended with a patio to stop the young owlets falling off. Well, there was near jubilation in the house this week when at dusk she saw an owl fly at low level down the lane on a hunting trip. Yesterday she saw an owl drop on a mouse early in the evening and this morning we both watched an owl hunting. Rubbish pictures taken through our bathroom window, with its 100 year old panes of glass, but at least its proof!

UPDATE

18.20 Saturday. Mrs H. just saw the owl go into the owl box. He must be feeding his mate on the nest.

Patrick Harvie Proves He's a Twit

2009-04-18T07:52:00.005+01:00

I'd not normally bother having a look at the Twitterpades of Green MSP Patrick Harvie, but given the stories of him twittering while sitting at dinner with Gordon Brown, Alex Salmond et al this week I couldn't help myself. There has been general condemnation of Harvie twittering throughout the dinner and it prompted him to write to the Scotsman to say.

"This is the first time in my life that I've been chastised by an 'etiquette guru', whatever that means." In his letter, Mr Harvie suggests that Mr York and other critics were just out of date. "Being only vaguely aware that such people existed, I am very grateful to you (The Scotsman] for securing the services of an etiquette guru to comment on my Twitter habit."

It's bloody obvious that sitting there on such an occasion twiddling with your blackberry, or whatever it is he uses, under the table is just bad manners. His justification of his actions really does make you feel that we are being governed by idiots. His sarcasm towards the notion of an etiquette guru is not unreasonable yet Mr Harvie on his twitter pages asked this question about a month ago.

"Wondering whether it's bad etiquette to post the same update to Facebook and Twitter"

So he's clearly someone who is concerned with etiquette in general. Other twitter entries reveal a man who has some interesting takes on his life and being an MSP as well as his relationship with those that follow him on the social networking site - there are 108 of them.

Trapped on a train next to a fat couple making out.
11:47 AM Apr 2nd from mobile web

Was it a gay or straight couple?

It's twelve o'clock, it's Holyrood, it's the deja vu show!
4:12 AM Mar 26th from mobile web

I thought it was his job. . .

Why the fuck can't this country run trains properly? I know, don't answer...
3:23 PM Mar 19th from mobile web

Most of his comments are pretty predictable fare from a Green MSP, but the idea that they we shall ever have the chance of judging their ability to run the trains is of course never going to be tested. . .thank goodness.

How The Lobby Works

2009-04-17T18:07:00.001+01:00

Very interesting piece by Iain MacWhirter on the Lobby system HERE

Mandy Watch No. 10 – I Agree With Lord Mandelson

2009-04-17T08:06:00.005+01:00

The Scotsman takes Lord Mandelson to task this morning and has got opposition politicians to join in on a chorus of disapproval for what his Lordship had to say. But quite incredibly I find myself agreeing with the Minister. This is what Mandelson had to say.

"There are still really major sources of opportunities for us. There are huge growing economies out there, with rising incomes among growing populations, that are going to be demanding and buying the sort of goods and services that we excel at producing. When people talk about the world with such pessimism, they are ignoring all the opportunities and concentrating only on the risks. So frankly it's about time people stopped being so darned pessimistic, looked at it on the upside and looked at what we're good at in this country."

The opposition lined up with a series of meeja sound bites that look like they have been written by teenage politics students (actually I apologise that's rather insulting to teenagers, they would probably have done better).

"Peter Mandelson's extraordinary remarks are yet another indication of just how out of touch the UK Labour government is. Lord Mandelson may not be feeling the pinch, but when families and businesses across Scotland are really struggling – with figures this week showing sharply rising unemployment in Glasgow – it is bad taste and bad judgment for him to deny the reality of the Downing Street downturn." – John Mason, the SNP's work and pensions spokesman.

"The world may look bright to Lord Mandelson, but for hard-working families facing rising unemployment, stagnant wages and shrinking credit, the contrast couldn't be more stark. Labour's failure to understand how the world looks to ordinary families makes them part of the problem, not the solution." – Philip Hammond, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury.

"Scotland is being hit hard by Labour's recession and doesn't need cheer-up lectures from Peter Mandelson. He needs to get out more and experience the real world and the turmoil created by Labour's broken economy." – David Mundell, the shadow secretary of state for Scotland.

First of all this is not some attack on Scotland as the Scotsman and the SNP in particular have tried to make it. It may have been said in Scotland but he doesn't single out Scotland in his remarks. Anyone who knows anything about business knows that there is a need for confidence and talking things down the whole time is a huge problem. Much of what has gone on in these past months over the recession has not been helped by the media with their 'end of the world' style of presentation.

I find Mandelson patronising most of the time and if I were talking to him, face-to-face I know I would find him intensely irritating. However, the SNP and Tory remarks are typical of the reactionary, opposition style of politics in Britain, of the kind where one side says "black", the other automatically, without much thought says, "white".

David Mundell, a lawyer by training, calls for Mandelson to get experience of the real world. Mr Mundell worked as a solicitor in private practice and BT's head on national affairs in Scotland – many would consider this as only a tenuous link with the real world. John Mason from the SNP trained as an accountant in Glasgow before working for housing associations, nursing homes, and with a charity in London. He also spent 3 years in Nepal with an NGO representing churches from all over the world.

Lawyers and accountants are the brakes of a business, not the accelerators.

Sorry seems to be the Hardest Word

2009-04-14T23:30:00.002+01:00

Gordon Brown's letter to Nadine Dorries MP. I wonder what a hand writing expert would have to say?

McBride. . .How Come It Took So Long?

2009-04-14T21:42:00.002+01:00

There's an interesting post on Iain Dale this evening about 'client journalism'; talking about how journalists are reliant on people like Damian McBride for their information so that he was in some way tolerated. Am I surprised, not one bit. But when you get to hear how bad McBride's behaviour has been it's all pretty staggering. Take this little scenario...

In early 2007 McBride sent a text message to Anthony Browne, the outgoing political correspondent of the Times.
'I just wish for once you'd try to get past your cynical, Tory, halfwit Harold Lloyd schtick to try and be a genuine journalist. It’s presumably cos of your inability to do so that you’re off to earn a crust at some Tory think-tank instead. Pathetic.’

Apparently Browne had asked McBride for a comment on his paper’s scoop that Gordon Brown had been warned in advance about the problems his 1997 pensions fund raid would cause. He was the Prime Minister's special adviser on press issues, working closely with the director of communications Mike Ellam. Even then McBride operated in the shadows and was perceived to be closer to the PM. He also dealt with personal PR for Sarah Brown, the PM’s wife.

According to some McBride employed Machiavellian means when it came to Brown’s obsession to succeed Tony Blair as Labour leader. According to one unnamed source ‘Anybody who was potentially a rival to Gordon would suddenly find lots of negative stories about them in the press, whether it was David Blunkett, Alan Milburn or John Reid – with all the disasters in the Home Office – and then David Miliband. A lot of people would say those stories have come from Damian.’

Now let's not forget that this man was being paid by us, the taxpayers and are we seriously to believe that Gordon Brown knew nothing of his dark arts?

Hat Tip Brand Republic

Phil Spector – The Murder and A Book

2009-04-14T07:53:00.004+01:00

The news the Phil Spector has been found guilty of second degree murder and is to be jailed for at least 18 years will be all over the media today. It will, for some, tarnish the reputation of one of music's great creative figures. I fondly remember looking forward to new releases of Spector produced records during the sixties – even those that were run of the mill, and there were few of them, were better than most anything else that was being produced. He was emulated and revered by musicians during that golden age of pop. To get a better understanding of the man and his music read my friend Mick Brown's wonderful book, Tearing Down the Wall of Sound – The Rise and Fall of Phil Spector. Mick is a brilliant writer who has the eye for detail of the journalist that he is, coupled with compassion and humanity that produces great books

Mick talked to Spector in December 2002, the legendary recluse's first interview in 25 years. Six weeks or so later Spector was arrested on suspicion of murdering a small time actress named Lana Clarkson and that trial is about to commence in Los Angeles. Ironically twenty-four hours before the alleged murder Mick's article appeared in the Daily Telegraph Magazine. As the book's publicity states, '"Tearing Down the Wall of Sound" is Mick Brown's personal odyssey into the heart of the strange life and times of Phil Spector. Beginning with that fateful meeting in Spector's home and recounting the story of his mercurial life and career, including the unfolding of the Clarkson case and its aftermath, this is one of the most bizarre and compelling stories in the annals of pop music.'

McBride – The Price of Silence

2009-04-13T08:53:00.003+01:00

Is it fair to assume that McBride was allowed to resign, rather than be sacked, because it will in some way help his financial position? Will he keep pension rights as a result? Is there any 'hardship payment' for a resignation rather than a sacking? Or was this all about buying his silence. If McBride was sacked then surely he would be more likely to have something to say about the Great Protector that is Gordon Brown.

Which ever way the affair is looked at how can Gordon Brown not be implicated? The PM had lunch with Derek Draper at Chequers shortly after Draper registered his Red Rag web site. . .WHY? Why would the Prime Minister invite Draper to lunch? To discuss his work as a psychotherapist? Downing Street were oh so quick to react to the situation, casting McBride adrift, which tells you how worried they are.

What is clear is that there is something very rotten at the core of Labour. The fact that they think there is some orchestrated Tory campaign against them, led by Guido, shows how delusional they are. They are so beleaguered that they are demonstrating all the worrying traits of a bunker mentality. Brown's ability to get on with the more important job of getting us through the recession will be close to impossible.

Guido Gets Under The Telegraph's Radar

2009-04-12T15:25:00.002+01:00

Guido Fawkes posted this blog entry on the Telegraph's blog this afternoon. It was still there at almost 3.30 p.m. Maybe the Telegraph has Easter Sunday off. Thought I'd post it for when the Telegraph get around to removng it.

Telegraph Has Behaved Terribly Over Smeargate

Sunday, April 12, 2009, 01:38 PM GMT [General]

There are a lot of bitter, jealous journalists at the Telegraph and you have behaved shamefully over the McBride story. You even tipped off Downing Street in advance as to exactly what I was up to. It reflects on you a lot more than it does on me.

You revealed sources, broke a confidence, breached a signed non-disclosure agreement and behaved like patsy's for McBride.

You still failed to spoil the story. Your political team is about as weak as it gets, that is why you sucked up to Downing Street.

The Telegraph was once run by gentlemen for gentlemen. This would never have happened under Deedes or Charles Moore.

Do your worst.

Draper, McBride and Brown – Triplets of Different Mothers?

2009-04-12T08:21:00.005+01:00

Liam Byrne, the Cabinet Minister, was on BBC News this morning stating the government and Gordon Brown's position on Smeargate debacle. He said not once but several times that Mr. McBride sent these emails to "a friend" and engaged in "juvenile banter". It's as though Derek Draper, the 'friend' had nothing to do with Labour and this was just a couple of 'lads having a laugh'. Draper is the editor of Labourlist, for which we can assume the Labour party have been paying handsomely. How long will Draper be in that position? Draper has written a piece on LabourList justifying his actions and in the comments section he's been attacked by just about all the commentators. Interesting too that the minister in commentating about McBride always referred to him as "Mr." It's as though they barely knew one another when in reality they worked together on a daily basis.

Of course Gordon Brown didn't order McBride to do what he did, but he knew exactly what kind of person McBride is and what in general he was up to in his capacity as his tame spinner. If Brown didn't know, why didn't he? You don't employ someone like McBride, who incidentally is paid for by us, and not know what he's doing, do you?

Regional Airports in Decline

2009-04-11T07:32:00.003+01:00

All over the BBC news this morning is the story about the serious decline in passenger numbers from regional airports. It's being dressed up by calling into question the so called 'hidden charges' that regional airports are introducing. The fact is that there are too many airports in Britain for the size of the country. We get away with it in a time of rampant passenger demand but this is only going to get worse over the next year or so. We can expect more airlines to fail and more services to be cut. It's all about economics.

What's more surprising is that no one has linked what's going on to the proposed sale of some of the BAA's airports. There's a lot more to come on this story in the next few months.

Guido and Draper. . .Kane and Abel?

2009-04-11T06:57:00.005+01:00

There's fascinating news today that Guido Fawkes has rumbled a big one going down in Downing Street involving that ‘master’ of spin and psychotherapy, Derek Draper.

A Saltire in 2009

2009-04-08T20:36:00.003+01:00

The Saltire is Scotland's national flag which is the oldest flag in Europe and the Commonwealth, and it has its origins in a battle fought in East Lothian in the Dark Ages. Its believed that the battle took place in 832AD. An army of Picts under the High King of Alba, and aided by a contingent of Scots had been on a raid into Lothian and were being pursued by a larger force of Angles and Saxons under one Athelstan. The Scots were caught and stood to face their pursuers in the area of Markle, near East Linton, north of the modern village of Athelstaneford. Fearing the outcome of the encounter, the Scots' King led prayers for deliverance, and was rewarded by seeing a cloud formation of a white saltire (the diagonal cross on which St Andrew had been martyred) against a blue sky. The king vowed that if, with the saint's help, he gained the victory, then Andrew would thereafter be the patron saint of Scotland. The Scots did win, and the Saltire became the flag of Scotland.

This photograph was taken at 8.15 pm this evening looking towards East Lothian, near Athelstanesford. History does repeat itself. . .

Gordon Brown Speaks Out on Second Homes Row?

2009-04-06T11:05:00.005+01:00

"Something must be done about the iniquitous arrangements by which senior cabinet ministers are claiming massive benefits on second homes while living in grace and favour properties supplied at the taxpayers expense. Hard working families in Britain need to know that we feel their pain, that we share that pain, and are not out of touch; we aim to take action on this issue as soon as possible. As Prime Minister, I, of course, don't do any such thing as cheating the system, I am above all that kind of thing. Neither do I accept that I'm now making this statement because the cat is out of the bag and I'm being forced into it by public opinion. I've always felt it immoral and it's evidence of greed from MPs of all parties, who work the system to their advantage, while increasing the burden upon the state. However, what am I to do? I have been totally unaware things like this are going on in parliament, even when I was Chancellor. Neither was I aware that it was an issue with the public at large because none of my cabinet colleagues have brought the matter to my attention. Now that I am aware I will put in place a parliamentary review to come up with an alternative scheme that will help to realign the collective moral compass of Parliament. This review will be conducted by a select group of MPs chaired by a minister who will I am sure act promptly and in the best interest of MPs."

New Blog Banner and St Andrews

2009-04-06T08:45:00.006+01:00

Mrs H. and I were driving home from a lovely weekend in St Andrews with Mr & Mrs K. and stopped to take the photo in the banner of this typical Lammermuirs spring scene. Hefted sheep on the hills and the burning of the heather.

On a Sunday there's no golf played on the famous Old Course at St. Andrews. people are free to walk it and so we did, all the way out on the front nine and back on the back nine. It was a glorious, but breezy day. It's well worth doing if you are interested in golf or not as you get some great views on the first 9 holes as you approach the water at the around holes 7 and 8. Coming back you get this famous view of the R & A Golf Club (the building on the far left) and a property (the dark red building on the right) that is currently standing empty but it would make a wonderful boutique hotel or apartments. The American owner of the property had intended converting it into a luxury time share in which a two week stay was going to cost something more than the Panamanian national debt – the developer has gone bankrupt.

Singles Only?

2009-04-03T07:40:00.005+01:00

To respond to the challenge of Columbia’s ‘long-player’, the LP or 12 inch record that played at 33 1/3 rpm, RCA decided to take an alternative approach. They concentrated their research and development efforts on an alternative to the 78-rpm ‘single’. RCA decided on the 45 rpm for their ‘singles’ by taking 78 and subtracting 33 leaving them with 45. When the 45 rpm launched 60 years ago this week a key player in RCA's plan was a blues singer named Arthur Crudup. The first 45-rpm in Victor’s R&B series was ‘That’s All Right’ recorded in September 1946 having already been released on 78rpm. Some dynamic marketing executive had the idea of colour coding the RCA releases. ‘That’s All Right’ came out on orange vinyl (although they called it cerise), popular music on blue, country records, rather appropriately, were green. While ‘That’s All Right’ did get some airplay on Black radio stations, it again failed to chart. But for a certain Mr. Elvis Presley ‘That’s All Right’ would have been a footnote in recording history. Elvis covered the song in 1954 at Sun Studios with Scotty Moore and Bill Black and while it was nothing more than a local hit it put Elvis on the map. Among the other releases was Eddy Arnold's 'Texarkana Baby." The B-side was "Boquet of Roses," both recorded in Nashville. The single was released on bright green vinyl.

Is it Love Gordon?

2009-04-01T22:19:00.001+01:00

Gordon Brown is Great...

2009-03-31T08:23:00.003+01:00

...isn't he? He's come out finally and said that the MPs second homes allowance should be stopped. How come he wasn't doing or saying anything about it when he was Chancellor? How come as our supreme leader he didn't tackle the problem until the clamour of public (and media) opinion became deafening? It's because he's no leader; he's Gordon the Reactor.

Perhaps he has been forced into this move by what must be the height of cynical expense claims by the Labour husband and wife MPs who have both claimed the allowance so they could buy a £500,000 Thames-side apartment when their constituencies are outside the geographical limit. Ann Keen, a junior health minister, and her husband Alan have claimed at least £175,000 in publicly-funded expenses despite the fact the Labour MPs shared London constituency home is just 30 minutes away.

Ann Keen is MP for Brentford and Isleworth in West London, and Mr Keen represents neighbouring Feltham and Heston, live in a terraced house in Brentford. It is just nine miles by road from parliament, in a journey which takes 30 minutes by car or 55 minutes by bus and Tube. They bought a flat 7 years ago that is situated behind the Royal Festival Hall in a complex which has its own swimming pool, hot tub, gym, concierge service and spectacular views of the Thames. Between 2002 and 2007 - the latest year for which figures are available - Mrs Keen claimed £87,325 from the ACA, while her husband claimed £87,803.

The fact is that while the rules allow such things surely their moral radar would be sufficiently attuned to tell them that this is obscene (far more so that Mr Smiths adult movies). Is it any wonder that MPs have become so far removed from the realities of real life that they can no longer understand what life is like for the majority of people in Britain. And don't give me the security argument, the late sittings in the commons or whatever else. They could get a taxi home and charge it under parliamentary rules. This is all about profiting at our expense.

Socialists? They have not a scintilla of understanding of what it means.

Gordon Brown Demolished. . .

2009-03-24T21:42:00.001Z

Trumptown Update

2009-03-23T07:25:00.002Z

The Donald appears to be at it again. This time according to Fan Hitter he's blocking access to the Menie estate. Local councillor Debra Storr said "I received a complaint yesterday and immediately investigated. I found that gates into the estate were closed and locked at all the main accesses and that many local residents were worried that they would no longer be allowed access to the estate and beach.

Folks, it's only going to get worse. . .

EventScotland a Non-Event?

2009-03-22T19:48:00.007Z

Whaddya mean you've never hard of EventScotland? Surely you have? It's the organization that, amongst other things, has been coordinating Homecoming Scotland – that mega event designed to bring Scots home in their droves during the course of 2009. You'll not be surprised to know that they have about the same abilities in their web site activities as their counterpart VisitScotland.

According to their web site "At EventScotland we are working hard, with our partners, to ensure Scotland remains one of the premier event destinations in the world." It's yet another quango who are sucking up money that could be better spent if it were part of a better structured situation under the tourism umbrella (although not VisitScotland of course). So inept are the numpties at EventScotland that they cannot even spell Britain in their literature (they think it's Britian!). They have also just paid a London PR firm £40,000 to undertake PR on Homecoming Scotland. EventScotland employs around 25 people with a staff cost of £4.6 million and last year they contributed almost £4 million to various events (not saying that's a bad thing but when their staff costs are higher than what they contribute it begs the question). EventScotland's other operating costs were almost £600,000.

By the way, still no word on how VisitScotland intend to run their online booking service following the debacle with eTourism. eTourism's cumulative losses to the end of 2007 were £12.4 million, VisitScotland have had to write-off a £2.7 million of loans and interest on loans in their last accounts. Meanwhile we still have a rubbish web site and no sign of things getting any better.

America the Beautiful

2009-03-21T07:12:00.014Z

There is nothing I like more (musically) than a good dose of harmony and there are few bands who do harmony as well as America. They were back in Glasgow on Thursday night to serenade us with another set of superb songs. From Riverside, their opening number, to A Horse With No Name their closer an hour and forty minutes later it was wall to wall hits with a few surprises thrown in for those people, like me, who have just about every one of their albums.

Music for all of us time stamps our lives and I cannot hear anything from America's first album without instantly being back, high in the Alps, standing and looking at a stunning view of the mountains with the songs from it playing on my old Phillips cassette recorder. I'd rigged it up to a big speaker that my mate Steve and I set up up in his mini van. We were on our way home from a week's camping in Chamonix in the early summer of 1972. I'd bought their first album the day it came out, from which Horse, Riverside, Sandman and I Need You came from; on Thursday evening they played them all.

America's songs are great radio records and Ventura Highway is still often heard here in the UK; go to the USA and you'll hear it along with You Can Do Magic, Only in Your Dreams, Tin Man, Don't Cross the River and Sister Golden Hair which all graced the Billboard charts. But America are far from an oldies act that rely on the power of nostalgia. They are still making great records and manage to imbue their live show with a freshness and wonderful musicianship that many bands with a quarter of their experience would envy. Dewey Bunnell and Gerry Beckley along with their three piece band of Willie Leacox (drums), Michael Woods (guitars and keys) and Rich Campbell (bass) create a sound that is full, tight and well crafted.

New this time was a very clever film show and backdrop that accompanied and enhanced the sets. During Hollywood it really was superb, as it was on Sandman with its images of the Vietnam War; but even when it was little more than subtly changing images of the desert or highways it helped to create mind-set that made listening even more pleasurable. The Glasgow Concert Hall was not full but I guarantee that every person who went left with a head full of harmony and a heart full of great memories.

John Prescott – A Man with Time on His Hands

2009-03-15T08:03:00.004Z

According to the Observer this morning John Prescott is Labour's new web weapon. He's "been chosen as the unlikely leader of Labour's general election campaign on the internet, as the party prepares to launch a low-budget battle for a fourth term in government."

"Prescott, a veteran of traditional, on-the-road campaigning who famously thumped an egg-throwing heckler during the 2001 campaign, has told friends that he sees his new role as driving Labour's "virtual battle bus". The former cabinet minister has surprised the party's high command by helping to raise Labour's profile on the web with his own blog and by establishing a formidable presence on the networking sites Facebook and Twitter."

All well and good, and probably all true, but in the meantime what about the day job? In the last year Prescott has failed speak in any parliamentary debate, is a member of no parliamentary committees and has only voted on 47% of occasions – well below the average. Added to which during 2008 this man of the people has received remuneration of between £112,000 and £165,000 for speeches, TV and books.

What about the day job Mr Prescott? What about doing what your constituents and the country expects you to be doing? How about turning up for what we the tax payers pay you for? Easy to do the twittering, facebook and blogging stuff if you're doing bugger all else! Of course he is to stand down at the next election so why does he care? No doubt he's expecting a peerage when he does and the gravy train will roll on once he's in the Lords.

The Menie Trumpet

2009-03-14T09:49:00.003Z

This just in from the San Diego Union Tribune.

Nearly 70 plaintiffs who invested millions of dollars in the Trump Ocean Resort, a planned luxury oceanfront development in Baja California that was never built, are now suing Donald Trump, his son and daughter, and the project's developers on a fraud claim.

The lawsuit was filed yesterday in Los Angeles Superior Court. It alleges, among other things, that buyers who put down deposits on the planned development's 526 condo-hotel units were deceived into believing they were buying into a Trump development when the Trump name was merely licensed by the developers.

Included among the defendants are Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump, as well as principals of the project's Los Angeles-based developers, Irongate Development, its partner company Punta Bandera Investors USA, and its real estate brokers S&P Destination Properties.

Among the 41 causes of action listed are allegations of fraudulent inducement, negligent misrepresentation, deceit and breach of fiduciary duty.

Tricked into buying into the development when all they had done was license the Trump name? Perish the thought!

Mandy Watch No.8

2009-02-28T07:08:00.003Z

Baron Mandy of Fop is at it again, so it appears. His Lordshit is now embroiled in a row over his relationship with PR firm Finsbury which is run by Roland Rudd, whose son is Mandelson's godson. Rudd's firm represents BAA, BAA have secured the Heathrow runway extension, Mandelson vigorously supported the extension in Cabinet and Rudd had numerous meetings with Mandelson (and other ministers) before the decision was made. Rudd's firm also represents the Russian oligarch on whose yacht Mandelson holidayed. You can read more HERE.

Big Wheel Turning?

2009-02-27T07:38:00.000Z

Here we go again. One company’s money making venture is an anathema to vast numbers of other people and I think those who are worried have every right to be. It seems that ‘one of the nation's leading visitor destinations’ – don’t you just hate that term – is planning a giant 112ft wheel to be up and running by the summer. The Lomond Eye is expected to attract thousands of tourists courtesy of a unique perspective on the Loch Lomond landscape. The company behind the idea is Loch Lomond Shores, which believes the structure – equal in height to the Edinburgh Wheel on Princes Street at Christmas – represents a major tourist draw.

Let’s take this in shall we. They think that the wheel will be a tourist draw. No it isn’t! It’s Loch Lomond and the surrounding area that is the tourist draw this is merely a scheme to make money off the back of it. There’s certainly an argument to say that while they might make more money putting it up and charging a pretty penny to go on it, the numbers of tourists overall visiting the area could be hit. Certainly more people probably don’t want to look at one of these things on the bonnie banks.

It’s one thing having them in London, Edinburgh or York where they are sited among a built environment but quite something else in the natural beauty that is Loch Lomond. The proposal has yet to be approved by Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority, which governs the national park, but those behind the structure claim it would not be visually intrusive.

They would and they are barking if they think that.

Loch Lomond Shores attracted more than 1.2 million visitors last year, and Clare Gemmell, the centre manager, views the wheel as a means of increasing that figure. She said: "We have no intention of this attraction being seen as a funfair big wheel, and we will ensure the structure and the promotions surrounding this proposal will be seen as an educational, environmental tool.

The centre had 1.2 million visitors, it didn’t attract them and how can it be seen, as anything other than what it is. . .a bloody great wheel!

To cap it all those experts in all things tourism Visitscotland are hoping that the Lomond Eye could be as successful as the Falkirk Wheel, which last year attracted over 500,000 visitors. Do they not get it?

In an increasingly busy, built environment we need to protect the natural beauty that offers visitors to Scotland respite from the visual assault that cities provide. A few years ago the former head of Scottish Boarders Tourist Board said to me. “The trouble with the Borders is we don’t have a world class attraction.” This scheme is a result of that same muddled thinking. We have the best world-class attraction of all in Scotland. The beauty of the hills, mountains, lochs, views, seashores, moors and the fact that there’s not a lot of people.

Let’s not try to fix it, ‘cos it ain’t broke.

Money's Not Too Tight. . .

2009-02-26T19:20:00.003Z

OK, let's get this straight. Fred Goodwin, I can't bring myself to call him Sir Fred, isn't contractually bound to get the £693K pension that he's been given. It was a deal agreed by the RBS Board (which indeed is our bank in which the Havers' millions are deposited) to somehow reward him for his years of service. The government knew he was getting this pension last year but said nothing. . .now there's a surprise. Meanwhile we have a new Chief Executive of RBS (I wonder what his pension arrangements are?) in the shape of Stephen Hester (salary £1.2 million and a pay-off package reported to be £4 million if he's sacked) who finds it difficult to answer the question as to why some of the people who are still on the RBS board were the same people who gave Goodwin his pension deal.

Then you have the BBC senior executives justifying the salaries they are paying to some of the presenters by saying that they would get that much in the commercial sector. No they bloody wouldn't! Has anyone noticed the dire straights that ITV and commercial radio are in?

Oh yes, and then we have the likes of Peter Mandelson, Baron Fop of Mandy who is another that seems to be given a whopping salary to be a government minister because none of our elected MPs are up to the task. So we make him a Lord, for which he gets paid handsomely by us the tax payers.

What's this all mean? It's a bloody cartel, a club in which those who are running it decide whose in it, decide what they are going to get and then police it as well. There's something very rotten in the state of Britain and it won't be long before something happens that will be related to releasing the pressure.

World Class Golf Resort in the Rough

2009-02-26T07:46:00.001Z

. . . and no it's not the Donald's

The multi-million pound celebrity golf resort on the Ury Estate, near Stonehaven is under threat as the Edinburgh-based FM Group of companies, which includes the firm behind the golf course project, FM Developments, has called in the administrators..

Jack Nicklaus had been due to open a £40m ‘world-class’ course in time for 2010 season; it’s Nicklaus that has designed the course. According to the administrator "We're firmly committed to exploring the future options available for the group's developments and in particular the ambitious plans for the Ury Estate and its proposed Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course. The Ury Estate is a stone’s throw from the Donald's ‘billion-pound’ development.