It's hard to believe that Blair will go on much longer. Both he and Bush were pathetic in their press conferences in the States this week. What continues to amaze me is why the Labour party just don't remove him. The succession is a seperate matter.

Knight of the long knives
Blair's carve-up of his cabinet is curious. Reminds me a bit of the Scottish play. 'Is this a dagger I see before me...?', Cherie is crying ; was Jack Straw, as minister for war beginning to show some personal initiative; was Blair jealous of his closeness to Miss Rice; Why did Clarke suddenly get the blade in the back and who are these yes men/women slotted in as frontmen/women without (of course) any real power? They need to know that all power resides in Downing Street.

I still maintain Brown will never move into no. 10.

Whiter



‘Keep those doggies rollin’
Man, I love this
Great white wilderness shit.

Great to be out of London
For a bit
Brimming with action
Press gang busy
Trying to wrap up warm

‘Keep those doggies rollin’
Of course we must reduce
Our carbon use
Must reduce the global warming
‘Keeps those doggies rolling’
Hope this is playing well,
- Playing well back home
‘I love to go a wandering’
Playing well back home
Show my fitness and my youth
‘Dashing all the way’
Into deep snow bunker
Selected Spitzbergans
Designer berghaus jerkins
Playing well back home.
Rawhide.
fade

© D DeBreffney

Coronation Street actor
I saw this Coronation Street actor the other night in the bar of the Royal Court Theatre; don't know her name. She was with some Scottish actor, whom I was trying to glean some information from, about The Winterling. Not very successfully, as it turned out. I gave up watching soaps about 5 years ago, as a new year's resolution. It seems such a waste of a life. My mother watches it in Ireland. I can hardly watch anything now on tv as I have a tube/metro/subway station at the end of the garden that really screws up the signal. It's not much of a loss really. So I am now doing a literature degree in my spare time, which is a better use of my time. Shakespeare's Henry V tonight - must watch the Kenneth Branagh's video again. Strong parallels between Henry's justification for going to war with France and Blair's outrageous adventure in Iraq.
'Once more into the breech...'
Check it out.

Jeremy Paxman
Like many people, I like to watch Newsnight at the end of the day. I sometimes think however, it lacks a punch, or at least baulks at taking a point to it's ultimate conclusion. I know the BBC is restrained by government threats (in other words 10 Downing Street, in other words, Blair) to take care it doesn't go too far - or it will lose its unique postion; but sometimes I wonder when things are getting very McCarthyite or 1930's both here and in the States; and I hear Orwell's voice ringing in my ear about how bad the situation is getting. I just want to see Jeremy Paxman, say to Blair or one of his henchman or women 'This is absolutely fucking outrageous' 'How much longer are you going to lie to the British public?' 'Up with this I will no longer put'and then he removes his microphone and storms out of the studio. (Shades of the movie Network) You suspect he thinks this way. Read his books. It won't happen, sadly. Even Paxo is too reserved an Englishman to do what he should...

Gene Pitney 1941-2006
– with much respect

There once was a singer called Gene
Who was huge on the sixties pop scene
“Something’s gotten hold of my Heart”
Well – OK – he was never Mozart
But truer words there never have been.

©David deBreffney

W Rooney
(This is no oil painting)

Airport Names

I was delighted to hear this week that Belfast City Airport is to be renamed. Belfast George Best Airport. Everybody loved George - from all communities.

John Lennon Airport too for Liverpool was an obvious choice.



I would love to see Dublin Airport renamed Phil Lynott Airport. His memory is revered amongst many Dubliners, including myself, and it would help to remind everybody that Ireland is now a multi-cultural place. I don't think it will happen, though. Too many people with political axes to grind: it would be - Pearse, Collins, DeValera, the list goes on. They will probably agree to disagree and leave it as it is - for peace sake.


But what about London Heathrow? Mick Jagger Airport. I'd like that. Or you could have Jagger for terminal 1, Keith Richards for terminal 2. and all the way down to the new terminal 5. Brian Jones? ...Maybe not. Just stick with Heathrow Mick Jagger. But t does seem a bit unfair on Keith. Anyway not Thatcher, whenever she drops off her perch and certainly not BLair. Oh I know, they will want to call it London QE2. Damn.

31.03.06: Steve Bell on Tony Blair's visit to Indonesia
© Steve Bell 2006
The Guardian

British food - what a Joke!
My nearest foodstore is a branch of Somerfield. It is crap. It is frightfully expensive. I was in there today and all the 'fresh bread' is best before April 1st. This is not unusual. Why do people take this shite? In Europe British food is almost a contradiction in terms. I hope with all the Poles coming into the country, they might open a few more fresh food shops. Or maybe they will pick up the bad habits of the British and start eating all this rubbish - turkey twizzlers, crisps, chips with chips.

Blair and Campbell
"This pair of hooray fucking henrys are being investigated for selling peerages that's Lorsdships and Ladyships, m'lady. Call me cynical but I bet they get off, like yesterday. One law for the rich...
Come the Revolution...I'd have 'em all strung up and that rich man's son in Texas, little fucking twerp. There's no justice...how can any young person have any respect...why bother voting...pull the other one...there all wankers mate. Now they want to use our tax money to pay for their fucking party. Yeh right...I want to have a party...bet fucking Gordon Fucking Brown won't pay for that. Bunch of tossers. Every fucking one of them. Only decent one was that John Smith, who died...unassuming...great hill walker"

The lonesome death of Rachel Corrie

Exclusive download (MP3): The Lonesome Death of Rachel Corrie
http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-audio/Guardian/audio/2006/03/27/RachelCorrie.mp3

Billy Bragg
Tuesday March 28, 2006
The Guardian

Rachel Corrie went to Gaza to draw attention to the plight of the Palestinians, whose voice is seldom heard in her country, the US. That she herself should be silenced - first by an Israeli bulldozer, next by a New York theatre cancelling a play created from her words - is a testimony to the power of her message. This song was written on a plane on March 20 and recorded at Big Sky Recordings, Ann Arbor, Michigan on March 22. The tune is borrowed from Bob Dylan.

Article continues
An Israeli bulldozer killed poor Rachel Corrie
As she stood in its path in the town of Rafah
She lost her young life in an act of compassion
Trying to protect the poor people of Gaza
Whose homes are destroyed by tank shells and bulldozers
And whose plight is exploited by suicide bombers
Who kill in the name of the people of Gaza
But Rachel Corrie believed in non-violent resistance
Put herself in harm's way as a shield of the people
And paid with her life in a manner most brutal

But you who philosophise disgrace and criticise all fears,
Take the rag away from your face.
Now ain't the time for your tears.

Rachel Corrie had 23 years
She was born in the town of Olympia, Washington
A skinny, messy, list-making chain-smoker
Who volunteered to protect the Palestinian people
Who had become non-persons in the eyes of the media
So that people were suffering and no one was seeing
Or hearing or talking or caring or acting
And the horrible math of the awful equation
That brought Rachel Corrie into this confrontation
Is that the spilt blood of a single American
Is worth more than the blood of a hundred Palestinians

But you who philosophise disgrace and criticise all fears,
Take the rag away from your face.
Now ain't the time for your tears.

The artistic director of a New York theatre
Cancelled a play based on Rachel's writings
But she wasn't a bomber or a killer or fighter
But one who acted in the spirit of the Freedom Riders
Is there no place for a voice in America
That doesn't conform to the Fox News agenda?
Who believes in non-violence instead of brute force
Who is willing to confront the might of an army
Whose passionate beliefs were matched by her bravery
The question she asked rings out round the world
If America is truly the beacon of freedom
Then how can it stand by while they bring down the curtain
And turn Rachel Corrie into a non-person?

Oh, but you who philosophise disgrace and criticise all fears,
Bury the rag deep in your face
For now's the time for your tears.

· My Name Is Rachel Corrie, co-edited by Alan Rickman and Guardian features editor Katharine Viner, opens at the Playhouse theatre tonight. Telephone 0870 060 6631. Listen to an exclusive download (MP3) of the song here.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006

Brown Ashes

TB went
downunder
to fess up:
he would not
declare
- after all.

© D DeBreffney

It is unfortunate when someone you have respected becomes a turncoat. I have read a couple of books by the economist, columnist and leader of the Work Foundation, Will Hutton.
He has in the recent past been highly critical of Thatcher and Blair. These books were well argued, coherent and meticulously researched. They were not simply polemic.
Sad then to see him licking Blair's arse in the Observer yesterday, quoting himself on television when a Murdoch employee did not dispute when Hutton claimed that Blair's economic formula was beginning to pay off (Huh?). A few things to say here:
1. I am suspicious of people who quote themselves - This is simply narcissism.
2. Since when does getting a Murdoch stooge to nod in agreement, bestow any sort of credibility?
3. I would have thought that Blair's economic policies are now more than ever - seen to be unravelling - or has Hutton lost touch with reality like most of his high-earning dinner friends?

Then he went on to spout about the government's 'right' to take proactive action against 'terrorism'. This contradicts what Hutton has written in the past. Has he not re-read Orwell recently? Blair's criminal activities in the Gulf are largely responsible for inflaming the muslim ultras, or the 'bad guys' as Bush would call them - as opposed to his 'good guys' in the white stetsons. Now Blair is hell-bent on introducing a police-state to a sleep-walking and largely politically ignorant public - witness the sales figures for boorish tabloids.

On the basis of this and recent pronouncements, you can expect to see Will Hutton's knighthood (if not peerage) being confirmed very shortly. There is more than one way of skinning a cat - or paying the ferryman.

SAS soldier quits Army in disgust at 'illegal' American tactics in Iraq
By Sean Rayment, Defence Correspondent
(Filed: 12/03/2006)

An SAS soldier has refused to fight in Iraq and has left the Army over the "illegal" tactics of United States troops and the policies of coalition forces.

After three months in Baghdad, Ben Griffin told his commander that he was no longer prepared to fight alongside American forces.

Ben Griffin
Ben Griffin told commanders that he thought the Iraq war was illegal

He said he had witnessed "dozens of illegal acts" by US troops, claiming they viewed all Iraqis as "untermenschen" - the Nazi term for races regarded as sub-human.

The decision marks the first time an SAS soldier has refused to go into combat and quit the Army on moral grounds.

It immediately brought to an end Mr Griffin's exemplary, eight-year career in which he also served with the Parachute Regiment, taking part in operations in Northern Ireland, Macedonia and Afghanistan.

But it will also embarrass the Government and have a potentially profound impact on cases of other soldiers who have refused to fight.

On Wednesday, the pre-trial hearing will begin into the court martial of Flt Lt Malcolm Kendall-Smith, a Royal Air Force doctor who has refused to return to Iraq for a third tour of duty on the grounds that the war is illegal. Mr Griffin's allegations came as the Foreign Office minister Kim Howells, visiting Basra yesterday, admitted that Iraq was now "a mess".

Mr Griffin, 28, who spent two years with the SAS, said the American military's "gung-ho and trigger happy mentality" and tactics had completely undermined any chance of winning the hearts and minds of the Iraqi population. He added that many innocent civilians were arrested in night-time raids and interrogated by American soldiers, imprisoned in the notorious Abu Ghraib prison, or handed over to the Iraqi authorities and "most probably" tortured.

Mr Griffin eventually told SAS commanders at Hereford that he could not take part in a war which he regarded as "illegal".

He added that he now believed that the Prime Minister and the Government had repeatedly "lied" over the war's conduct.

"I did not join the British Army to conduct American foreign policy," he said. He expected to be labelled a coward and to face a court martial and imprisonment after making what "the most difficult decision of my life" last March.

Instead, he was discharged with a testimonial describing him as a "balanced, honest, loyal and determined individual who possesses the strength of character to have the courage of his convictions".

Last night Patrick Mercer, the shadow minister for homeland security, said: "Trooper Griffin is a highly experienced soldier. This makes his decision particularly disturbing and his views and opinions must be listened to by the Government."

The MoD declined to comment.
(c) Daily Telegraph - London

 

This is Kirsty Wark.
She works for the BBC. Have you noticed the inflation of Kirsties working for the Beeb? It's getting out of hand. Could reflect the inflation of Scots as a whole in the corporation.
Kirsty is derived from Kirsten, the Scandinavian version of Christine. I wonder if I changed my name to Kirsty, could I get a job with 'Auntie'. I would like to present Newsnight Review.
Mind you, I think 'Kirsty' is a tad twee. Sort of working class Scots will middle class allusions or maybe that should be warking class. Stupid to make puns on people's names - I know. Kirsten seems more wholesome. When all is said and done, however, I am happy with David.
Is it me, or are all middle class Scots obsessed with - set mouth for very broad vowels here - vaahhwlues. You switch on the radio or TV and it's vaahhwlues this and vaahhwlues that. Kirsty Wark, John Reid (smug asshole Secretary for Defense and illegal war apologist) or the clever Jim Naughtie. Maybe it's the odd way - to my ears - that these people pronounce 'values' but I suspect they are all a bit class, sorry claaahhwse conscious.
 

Civilized country, America?

Joycean professor jailed and strip-searched in US over visa

A Dublin-born Joycean professor was handcuffed, strip-searched and locked overnight in Montgomery County Prison, Pennsylvania, after flying to the United States without properly completed visa documents, writes Seán O'Driscoll in New York
Prof John McCourt, a lecturer on Joyce at Trieste University, Italy, and author of The Years of Bloom: James Joyce in Trieste, had flown to the US from Italy to take up a short-term teaching job in the University of Pennsylvania on January 7th last.
Prof McCourt said his problems began with a small mix-up in his US visa application when he flew into Philadelphia. The university said his visa documents had been sorted out, when in fact the documents only said he was eligible for a visa.
Prof McCourt said he was verbally abused by immigration officials and told he would be flown back to Italy that night. However, he claimed that after he contacted the Irish consulate in New York and his sister in Boston, he was handcuffed and put in a van with three officers and driven to Montgomery County jail, where he was strip- searched and kept overnight. He claimed yesterday he was woken up by prison guards every hour and asked his name.
The University of Pennsylvania said yesterday it is to make an official complaint to the Department of Homeland Security.
Prof McCourt said he was taken back to the airport after the overnight detention and placed in a holding cell before being escorted on to a plane to Germany. "I was taken on to the plane in handcuffs and I think the other passengers were thinking, is this guy a terrorist?"
During the flight his alarm clock went off and the woman next to him nearly jumped out the window. "It was horrible to feel like a terrorist," he said. Prof McCourt has since returned to lecture at Pennsylvania after properly completing his visa application.
Austin Gormley, of the Irish consulate in New York, said the consulate had provided assistance to Prof McCourt while he was detained. It had not been asked to lodge a complaint with US authorities.
JoAnn McCarthy, assistant vice-provost for international affairs at the University of Pennsylvania, said the college would be making an official complaint.
"Incidents like this are really having an impact on academics, students and researchers coming into the US and ultimately it affects the wellbeing of the American public," she said.
Kelly Klundt of the Department of Homeland Security said if Prof McCourt had been fined instead of jailed, he would not have been allowed to re-enter the US.© The Irish Times

Happy New Year
to my many thousands of peace-loving liberally-minded readers all over the globe.
To conservative readers - and this imcludes British New Labour supporters - who may have drifted in here accidentally, I say, grow up, get a decent education. Stop reading right-wing shite like anything owned by The Dirty Digger Murdoch. Remember, hardly anyone now admits to having voted for the mad bitch, Maggie Thatcher. The same fate awaits Bliar.