Yanks show usual respect for the environment and other people's country
London uses a unique system to control traffic in a busy city. It is the congestion charge and it has been succesful in reducing grdidlock and air pollution. Every car driver must pay 8 pounds ($13) per day. Of course the US Embassy has unilaterally decided not to pay it. This is typical US arrogance. - the rulers of Universe. Pass the sickbag.

The Tories really are jokers

They make me crack up! The British Conservative Party, that is.
Kenneth Clark, the cigar chomping leadership hopeful was asked today if he'd ever taken hard drugs. This is the Executive Chairman on British American Tobacco, a drugs peddler whose product is responsible for the early deaths - on conservative (oops) estimate - of 30,000 British people alone every year. He said he hadn't.
The crazy right-wingers are unsatisfied with the young pretender David Cameron's jokey reply when asked if he ever smoked pot. He brushed the question aside.
What next? Will they ask him if he ever had a wank? (' jerk-off' in American).
This lot are on a totally different planet!

Wasn't it George Bernard Shaw - that great Irishman - who said he wouldn't be interested in joining any club that would have him as a member.

Whatever - You clever and ambitious young right wingers are in the wrong party. You need to move to your natural home - New Labour.

Banville wins Booker

Great to see fellow Irishman John Banville win the Man Booker Prize for best novel of 2005. I cannot wait to read The Sea.

I read his 1989 short-listed The Book of Evidence as soon as it appeared, having followed the '80's murder case on which it was loosely based. It is one of my 3 favourite novels.
Banville was literary editor of The Irish Times for many years; a good reviewer then: indeed I have no reason to believe he hasn't improved as both reviewer and novelist since.

Booker Prize excitement
There is much chatter in literary circles right now on the imminent announcement - Monday - of the Man Booker prize winner.
Of course, it's all a lot of nonsense. How can you possibly say that any one of these books is better than the others? In the final analysis, it is bound to be a subjective judgment. That is why there are usually bitter disagreements among the judges. Of course, if you have say, the equivalent of a Mills and Boon romantic potboiler standing against a Jane Austin, it would be an easy decision; but the shortlisted works are seldom as unevenly matched as that.
For my part, I would tip either Zadie Smith's On Beauty - which gets better the more often you read it - or my fellow countryman, Sebastian Barry's (photo) A Long, Long Way to bank the cheque.

The Great British Myth

This is the one that states that the Labour Party won the general election in 1997 and has been in power ever since.

The reality is: the Tory (Conservative) Party morphed into the New Labour Party and so the United Kingdom is still run by Tories with just a different name. Margaret Thatcher morphed into Tony Blair.
This in turn accounts for the fact that the entities masquerading as Margaret Thatcher and the Tory Party appear today as zombies.

Depressing British political scene
One of the the most depressing things about living - and voting in Britain is the dreadful political environment. You have a right-wing (it's a fact) party called New Labour, that despite the self-delusion of its ever-decreasing membership has been completely hijacked by a looney imperialist called Anthony Blair - 5 wars in 6 years - how loony is that? Just because he speaks in public school (i.e, private school) RP and likes to adopt a bogus friendly 'blokey' attitude. He is one dangerous bugger. How about this for a list: Illegal invasion of Iraq, killing of innocents, wholesale reduction in human rights in the UK. Pawning off the state assets at knock down prices to a bunch of robber capitalists.

But then you consider the main opposition party: the Conservative or Tory party - even further to the right.
They are playing out a leadership election process at their annual conference. What a bunch of no-hopers. They are like children having a tantrum "It's my turn" they squeel both individually as candidates and collectively as a party. They cannot give one good reason why they might be any better than the NL crowd. But they are even further to the right than the New Labour shower. They just can't organise a piss-up in a brewery.
(Cartoon: copyright Steve Bell The Guardian)

Ronnie Barker - rest in peace.

Ronnie Barker died last night. He gave me and millions of others of all generations more laughs over the years - than anybody. His TV shows - The Two Ronnies (with Ronnie Corbett), Porridge and Open All Hours were hilarious. People loved him for his comedy and good nature. He got massive audiences on the BBC in the 70's in 80's. Ronnie retired at age 58 at the top of his popularity to run an antique shop and be among his family. He admitted to being very shy in private.
The happy well adjusted comic - almost a contradiction in terms
(Photo shows Ronnie on the left in Porridge with Richard Beckinsale)

Doing what they're good at
I see the US army are doing today what they're good at: Blowing the bejasus out other people's countries, without a care for the innocent people getting killed - of course that pornographic phrase 'collateral damage' justifies it to all those sickos who support this kind of murder in Iraq.

Nice to see that the great writer Alan Bennet turned down an 'honour' (probably a knighthood) from the Queen. In typically modest form he said he didn't want to have to wear a suit all the time. Refreshing to hear that he will not vote Labour until Blair is ditched and the rest see sense about the Iraq War. In the meantime, he is voting Liberal Democrat.
The man should be canonised!