MAGGIE'S FUNERAL

So much for “We are all in it together”, “Times of austerity”, “We must all face cuts and tighten our belts”.

After spending millions of pounds of tax payers' money on the Queen’s jubilee, an event that was mostly held and benefited London, the Tory-led coalition has decided to spend around £10 million on a funeral for one of the most despised Prime Ministers since the introduction of The Six Acts in 1819.

£10 million is the estimate that is without the cost of the security measures surrounding the event. All Police leave has been cancelled in the London Metropolitan Police force. Snipers are been deployed on the roofs along and around the route of the funeral procession, which has been named “Code True Blue”.

The name “True Blue” I feel reflects how the Prime Minister and the Tories feel about the Late Prime Minister Thatcher and how she was for the business community the City of London and the rich. The workers and their communities were seen as an obstacle to be oppressed by her and her peers.

The Prime Minister Cameron, the Tory Party and many of the right wing press such as the Daily Mail, The Daily Telegraph and The Sun are appalled at some of the vitriol being expressed in the social media, (twitter, etc.), and by public figures and M.Ps such as Glenda Jackson and Morrissey. (Also look up “Margaret on the Guillotine” by Morrissey on You Tube music).

The pro-Thatcherites are outraged at this and use the excuse that a dead person should not be vilified as Thatcher is.  An example. I did not hear anyone saying this after Gaddafi's death as he was abused by the same press and media that are now attempting to silence the people’s voice about protecting and tempering criticism of the dead. Before anyone rises I am not in anyway comparing the late Maggie Thatcher to Col. Gaddafi, it is only an example of the hypocrisy of the press.    

The Tory right wing media are always banging the drum about democracy, free speech and freedom of the press of course this only applies when the “Press Barons” such as Rupert Murdoch, agrees with what is being said and represented. If The Sun and The Daily Mail feel you are attacking what they believe in, the establishment, the City and /or its leaders they will attempt to discredit the messenger by looking at their past and present lifestyle and occupation and smearing the person and leading a campaign for them to be sacked from their job if it is in anyway connected to public service. Such as the Drama teacher Romany Blythe and the Police Sergeant Jeremy Scott who has since resigned after the Daily Mail vindictively mounted a campaign to have them both sacked.

Police Sergeant Jeremy Scott has resigned.  He had served over twenty years in the Metropolitan Police Force and was facing possible suspension and an investigation into his twitter account @thinbluespeck..

Thatcher’s Grave

Let the bonfires burn bright,

The trumpets gaily play,
The Drummers drill away,
Let the Bagpipes blaw,
To be heard far away,

The children gaily play,

As I Dance on Thatcher’s Grave,

Monday was a beautiful day.

by McTaggart

Racism and the Republican Party Conference U.S.A. 2012

In Britain it is the conference season for the political parties to meet at a seaside resort and have their annual soiree, slap themselves on the back for saying how well they have done, state their aims for the future and slag off the other political parties.

One thing is for certain it will not have members of their party throwing peanuts at a black CNN TV camera woman as happened at the Republican National Conference, (RNC), in Tampa, Florida. Not only did two delegates, later denied by senior Republicans that they were delegates but attendees, throw peanuts at the camera woman but abused her verbally by saying “that is how we feed animals”. The two “attendees” were ejected from the conference hall by security guards.

What has baffled most commentators and the people who witnessed the attack on the CNN camera women, Patricia Carroll, is the lack of reporting of the incident and why it is being played down by everyone involved including CNN and the victim Patricia Carroll. There has been no Police involvement concerning the attack.

"I hate that it happened, but I'm not surprised at all," she told Journal-isms' Richard Prince. Carroll added that she did not want the situation to become political and that it could have happened at the Democratic convention. "This should be a wake-up call to black people," she said, describing racism as a "global issue."

Ms. Carroll stated that having more black leaders won’t change things, “We haven’t come that far. Black people have been in bondage longer then they have been free. Stuff like this will continue to be a part of the black experience".

McTaggart

Riddle: what do the police, the Olympics, a man with Parkinson's and 182 cyclists have in common?

The Police arrested the man and the cyclists during the Olympic games.

Arrested man with Parkinson's Disease

A man with Parkinson’s disease was arrested during the Olympic cycling road race because the Surrey Police thought he was not smiling and enjoying the event.

Mark Worsford, 54, who suffers from Parkinson’s disease, was arrested for not smiling. The former soldier and martial arts instructor was sitting on a wall when the Surrey Police arrested him for breach of the peace. Mr Worsford was dragged from the 7ft wall, thrown to the ground, handcuffed in front of the watching crowd and bundled unceremoniously into a Police vehicle.

Beggars can't be choosers

Basically you get a young copper that hasn’t got a clue about anything and he comes up to you and says you’ve got to move because you are harassing people.  One warned me seriously and made accusations that I was threatening people.  He said I was demanding money from people which was total rubbish.  I was just sitting there saying “spare change please.”  I used to do it up by Archway by the supermarket.  I still go there; I’ve been in that spot for years. But I don’t want to be sitting there forever; I want to get my life together somehow.

It’s not all the Old Bill, it’s just certain ones.  I don’t know what their problem is, I really don’t understand them.  Most of the time they walk past and say “alright mate, don’t get caught.”  I never want to scare anyone because that doesn’t get you anywhere.  It’s futile, you don’t go about threatening people to get what you want because it’s a dead end, a brick wall that you walk into. 

I’ve been fined a few times for begging.  They say it’s supposed to be a deterrent.  The fines go up into hundreds of pounds; how do they think you can get the money? One time a police officer said to me “why don’t you get a loan from the dole office to pay your fine?” Get into debt to get out of debt – it’s madness.  When you get a fine you go straight back on the street to pay it off.  If they catch you again you have to tell them you were begging to pay off a fine and they just laugh.  It’s a Catch 22.  They’re making a criminal of you so when they pull you up for it again they can use it against you.  It’s so insulting.  I’m over 50 years old now and there’s no way I want to get nicked again. 

One time I was sitting begging and a guy chucked his wage packet at me – it was £300.  He had got the sack and was in a bad way, didn’t know what he was doing.  At first I thought it was great.  I wouldn’t have to sit down here and beg for a while.  I could go off and score, buy food, not worry so much.  I went off to the shop thinking about what I was going to buy, but then I felt bad and took the money back to him. I followed him down the road and caught up with him.  He said a lot of nice words about how he didn’t think homeless people were capable of doing such good things and that he thought we were all the same – thieves and junkies. 

A lot of people haven’t got the time and don’t want to make the time to understand why we are in the situations we are, why we are begging, and they think we are useless and this is an easy way of doing things.  Let them try it!

B