Blaney's Blarney

Christians persecuted again by the BBC

2009-11-26T19:57:00.003Z

In yet another attack on Christianity, the oh-so daring BBC had planned to screen a ballet featuring a deformed Pope who raped eunuchs and nuns, until it was abandoned. This follows in the tradition of the photograph known as Piss Christ, depicting a small crucifix submerged in a glass of the artist's urine, being displayed thanks to taxpayer largesse in the US.

Imagine if the BBC had decided to do a piece portraying the Prophet Mohammed as a grooming predator who had paedophilic sex with a pre-pubescent bride? Or if Piss Christ became Piss Mohammed and it were displayed at the Tate. There would be justified outrage, would there not?

So why is Christianity fair game but Islam is not? How about some common sense for once and an end to persecution of Christians?

Pork or porkies?

2009-11-26T01:08:00.004Z

You'd have thought that climatologists would have slunk away into the caves and mud huts they want the rest of us to inhabit as we regress as a civilisation in the supposed goal of reducing global warming from causing some imagined catastrophe or other. This week's exposure of a concerted campaign of deceit highlighted by the rightist genius known as James Delingpole needs to be brought to the attention of more and more people as we seek to reverse the brainwashing of the past few years in which the political establishment and the mainstream media have been complicit. Where's Al Gore when you need him?

So you will understand my astonishment at reading that the latest loony idea is for us to be bullied into eating less meat. Not only do cows fart too much but there are now too many of them and we are being told that we need to eat less meat to save the planet - so says Hilary Benn, the invisible Environment Secretary.

How much more evidence do you need to realize that climate change hysteria is in reality a campaign led by watermelons* who want to restrict our freedoms and increase our taxes? It is about time that normal people told these zealots to piss off and leave us alone.

To paraphrase the late Charlton Heston, they can take my baby back ribs from my cold dead hands. It's time for a catchy new slogan, I think: DON'T TOUCH MY MEAT!

* Watermelons: green on the outside, red on the inside.

One rule for the Obamas...

2009-11-25T14:45:00.003Z

The BBC is complaining about an undoubtedly offensive image of Michelle Obama appearing at the top of a Google search. It is the same puerile and offensive monkey morph image used by Democrats to attack George W Bush (and, indeed, Abraham Lincoln) but it is difficult to see how it can be removed unless Michelle Obama herself complains (and even then, under the First Amendment, I cannot see how Google can be forced to remove it).

Interestingly the BBC is not quite so bothered that a Google search under the word "Jews" produces as the first image one that Nazi propagandists used in the 1930s.

Obama aides to help Brown? Bring it on!

2009-11-25T12:24:00.003Z

Great news for the Tories' election chances: the Wall Street Journal reports that the Labour Party will be receiving assistance from Barack Hussein Obama's campaign strategists. Yep, the same guys whose campaigning brilliance has seen One Term Barry's approval ratings fall to record lows and led to the GOP winning the gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia this month.

How conceited are these political strategists? Can they not see that there are some key differences between Brown's campaign and the campaign run for the Obamessiah last year?

1. Obama had no track record and was a clean slate: Brown has been in Downing Street since 1997.

2. Obama ran an insurgent campaign attacking an unpopular incumbent who was blamed for leading his country into recession: Brown IS the unpopular incumbent who is blamed for leading his country into recession.

3. Obama relied heavily on his soaring rhetoric, promising hope and change: Brown stammers, grins like a demented cretin and his most memorable rhetorical flourish was a reference to neo-classical endogenous growth theory.

4. Obama, as a Kenyan-American, represented a transparent change to all that had gone before: Brown is part of the Scottish mafia that has dominated British politics for over a decade along with fellow Scots Tony Blair, Robin Cook, Alastair Darling et al.

5. The Democrats were able to attack Republican incompetence in office as part of their strategy: Tories in office in local government are recognised as being competent and giving real value for money.

The notion that the Democrats' campaign staffers are Machiavellian geniuses who can rescue Brown from the ignominy of defeat next summer is so laughable that you have to wonder who has suggested that it is something the Dems ought to be doing? After all, if I were a Democrat, I would want all hands to the pump to prevent the GOP from making massive mid-term gains next year...

Christina Schmid puts the rest of us to shame

2009-11-24T16:26:00.005Z

What a contrast: the incredible quiet dignity and pride of Christina Schmid at her fallen husband's funeral service today and in her selfless support for other victims' families versus the spinelessness shown by those indulging in the political blame game at the Iraq Inquiry. And all the while the media disgracefully discusses X-Factor and Jordan's exit from the jungle (including The Sun, which pointedly reminded Gordon Brown that there's a bloody war on).

Mrs Schmid, whose brave husband Olaf was murdered by Islamists in Afghanistan, is proud of the work done by the men and women of the British military and argues that we, the public, need to do far more to support our troops.

Amen to that.

It took far too long for those of us who instinctively support our troops to gain the courage to speak up, perhaps highlighting why we who sit at home are so inferior in character to those brave souls who are willing to lay down their lives for us in foreign lands so that we can live in peace and freedom in Britain. And in the meantime the vacuum was filled by politically motivated lunatics such as Cindy Sheehan in the US and, in Britain, by other grieving family members who evidently didn't get what their relatives being in the military actually meant.

Christina Schmid is a credit to her late husband's memory. She exhibits more leadership in her little finger than the entire Labour government has done for years.

Message to America: don't do it!

2009-11-24T10:11:00.002Z

Mormon Harry Reid has managed to bribe enough of his Democrat colleagues to ensure the US Senate will debate his 2,000 page healthcare reform bill, although he is by no means assured of its passage.

One of the most controversial areas of the reforms proposed by Barack Hussein Obama and the Botox Bitch from the Bay (Nancy Pelosi) is for state-run panels to decide who will live and who will die - the so-called death panels (copyright, Sarah Palin).

"Republican scare stories", scream hysterical liberals. Except death panels are part and parcel of socialised healthcare, as we know only too well in Britain. Today we see yet another example of rationing in action - bowel cancer sufferers are to be denied life-prolonging drugs freely available on the European mainland.

Socialised healthcare will reduce Americans' life expectancy and quality of life. Passing One Term Barry's healthcare reform will burden future generations with an unaffordable system that makes social security look cheap by comparison.

Thierry Henry threatens to quit football

2009-11-23T21:08:00.002Z

So French cheat Thierry Henry threatened to quit football on the back of his shameful conduct this past weekend.

Good.

As your sponsors, Nike, used to say: "Just Do It".

A new name: the Cobden Centre

2009-11-23T10:32:00.002Z

One of the more enjoyable guests on Iain Dale's show on 18DoughtyStreet.com was Brian Micklethwait - always controversial and always genial. Brian has conducted a fascinating interview with Toby Baxendale, the founder of the Cobden Centre.

Please take the time to listen to it: Baxendale is someone whose life story and beliefs need a far wider airing. If he is even a tiny bit as successful with the Cobden Centre as he has been in business then the shape of British politics and economics will be changed for the better in the coming years.

A biblical message for President Obama - and Gordon Brown

2009-11-20T15:06:00.002Z

Psalm 109:8.

Hat Tip: Kelly.

So you want to play football with your hands, Thierry?

2009-11-20T12:58:00.002Z

Thierry Henry, cheat, wants to play football against the Irish with his hands does he?

Let's get him down to Croke Park and he can play some Gaelic Football* and then see how he likes using his hands then, eh?

* I appreciate that this clip comprises hurling as well as football. Alas the most violent football clips are not available on YouTube...

Goodbye Sir Hugh, you won't be missed

2009-11-20T12:02:00.002Z

Great news: another one of Ian Blair's chums who think policing is about structures and political correctness is threatening to quit. Good riddance Sir Hugh Orde.

I was going to savage this out of touch, patronising, anti-democratic, overpaid trougher myself but the uber-sound Douglas Carswell has done it for me...

The best Gillette can get?

2009-11-19T07:32:00.003Z

Tiger Woods, Roger Federer and Thierry Henry have been the face of Gillette for a couple of years now, chosen because of their squeaky clean reputations. How Wilkinson Sword must be smiling today after Thierry Henry's blatant handball (which he shamelessly admitted after the game) that saw France go through to the World Cup at the expense of Ireland last night.

But just as Brand Henry has been damaged in one second in Paris last night, so it may be the case in Ireland with Brand Gillette. The Irish can show their anger at Thierry Henry by boycotting Gillette's products and switching to its competitor, Wilkinson Sword. For just as companies ditch celebrity endorsers when they are caught taking drugs or with their trousers down so it should be when they so blatantly, shamelessly and unapologetically cheat. Not that Henry needs Gillette's money but it would be nice if the company showed that it didn't want cheats to prosper...

UPDATE (9.00pm): I see Alastair Campbell has copied my idea (Hat Tip: Hannibal).

'Ello, 'ello, 'ello - what's going on 'ere then?

2009-11-18T10:57:00.001Z

The story of the ex-soldier facing jail for handing in a gun is one that has appalled all right thinking people. Paul Clarke was found guilty on Tuesday because possession of a gun is a strict liability offence and there is no defence to the charge.

Reading the story more closely I came across this nugget, in which Mr Clarke said:

""I didn't know what to do, so the next morning I rang the Chief Superintendent, Adrian Harper, and asked if I could pop in and see him. At the police station, I took the gun out of the bag and placed it on the table so it was pointing towards the wall." Mr Clarke was then arrested immediately for possession of a firearm at Reigate police station, and taken to the cells."

Who is Chief Superintendent Adrian Harper? Is he the same Chief Superintendent Harper due to appear at Winchester Crown Court next month on misconduct charges? According to local news reports, he was suspended for alleged dishonest conduct regarding speeding penalties.

Was his conduct towards Mr Clarke likewise inappropriate and dishonest?

UPDATE (11.20am): Big Brother Watch has the story too.

Hat Tip: Hannibal.

Obama gives in again: this time to Fox News

2009-11-17T18:30:00.003Z

Poor ol' One Term Barry.

He and his Chicago henchmen had tried so, so hard to marginalise Fox News but given that Fox News (fair, balanced and unafraid) has the highest satellite and cable audiences, there was only so long that Barack Hussein Obama could hide from Fox News. He hides no longer.

I wonder when he'll have the cojones to face Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity or Glenn Beck?

Or Rush Limbaugh...

UPDATE (6.50pm): The excellent Dr Nile Gardiner at the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at the US-based Heritage Foundation has more here.

Newsweek becomes a partisan comic

2009-11-17T09:19:00.003Z

Even The Sun and The Mirror would be less biased than this.

What the hell has happened to Newsweek? Is this the only way its editors think that Newsweek can survive in today's new media age?

Can you imagine similar headlines attacking the Bigoted Botox Bitch from the Bay, Nancy Pelosi? Precisely. Newsweek is a mouthpiece for the liberal-left that deserves the same level of respect as National Enquirer.

Odear Obama

2009-11-16T20:34:00.000Z

Peta: let's defeat her

2009-11-16T17:09:00.002Z

For most of you, Peta Buscombe will be a new name (it's pronounced Peter). As plain old Peta, she failed to win Slough in 1997. Her reward was a peerage and she wound up as Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Party before wandering through a series of frontbench posts without making much of an impression. Given her seeming lack of importance to Project Cameron, she has evidently forsaken any role on the frontbench and has wound up with the Chairmanship of the Press Complaints Commission. Nice work if you can get it. Trebles all round etc.

Her first day in the job sees her raise the canard of regulating blogs. Iain Dale puts the boot in. It is, in short, one of the dumbest ideas for any self-professed conservative to propose. I know we are to keen to copy China's productivity but we shouldn't try to copy their infringements on freedom too.

Governments have no business whatsoever regulating the free exchange of ideas. The internet is already regulated adequately, thank you very much.

How to boost charitable giving in Britain

2009-11-16T09:07:00.006Z

I want to revisit a topic I wrote about in February of last year: charitable donations. Last night, along with half of the population, I watched X-Factor and was moved by the song that the finalists have recorded for Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital. I was privileged to benefit from the doctors' expertise at Great Ormond Street nearly 25 years ago but it is only as an adult that I came to learn that the hospital relies as heavily on charity as it does - and that, surely, is a disgrace.

Simon Cowell understands that great wealth brings with it great responsibility. I suspect that that is something impressed upon him by his A-list friends in the United States. The US has a far stronger philanthropic tradition than Britain and while elite sportsmen, musicians and celebrities will, of course, waste money on vulgar trinkets, multiple cars and gaudy homes, they also understand the need to do good with their positions in society and their eye-watering wealth.

If I am to donate to Great Ormond Street, however, what benefit is there to me as a taxpayer? I have to make that donation from my taxed income and then it is the Treasury that boosts the charity's coffers under gift aid. In the US, the situation is different. Whatever sums I donate to charity are offset against my taxable income, reducing the amount of my earnings that are then denuded by income tax. There is therefore a direct incentive for me to give money to charity because my charitable donations of tax deductible.

Why do we not have such a system here in Britain? In one fell swoop we will help to change the culture of giving away from relying on the state to dispense charitable largesse through gift aid. Instead we will create a culture of philanthropy among the wealthy, the aspirant and the most needy that benefits both the donor and donee.

If the Tories want to be seen as a truly compassionate party, why not embrace tax deductibility of charitable donations? It would nail the lie once and for all that the Tories are selfish and don't care because it would show that Conservatives - in Iain Duncan Smith's memorable phrase - really do want what's best for their families and for their neighbours.

Europe: does it have to be this way?

2009-11-16T09:02:00.001Z

Poll:X-Factor results tonight...who will be booted off?

2009-11-15T16:28:00.000Z

Go Sarah!

2009-11-15T12:30:00.000Z

Sarah Palin on Oprah: this coming Monday...

Greed is good

2009-11-15T11:46:00.004Z

The Sunday papers have been briefed by Downing Street that the Government intends to tear up bankers' contracts and to confiscate "unjustifiable" bonuses.

If this is a serious suggestion, and not just kite flying from a desperate Labour Party embarking on a policy of slash and burn prior to being forced out of Number 10 in May, then where the hell are the Tories?

The idea that in a global marketplace with free movement of capital and employees the British government can simply override a freely entered into contract negotiated between employer and employee is so stupid you wonder who thought it up. The only thing Britain has going for it (apart from the English language) is the primacy of the City of London. If our financial services sector is destroyed, London is ruined. And if London is ruined, Britain is bankrupted.

If the government wants to encourage banks to negotiate bonus payments payable on long-term results then surely a better way to do so would be, for example, to say that while bonuses payable this year are taxable at the higher rate of tax, if those bonuses are deferred for, say, 5 years then a minimal or nil rate of tax is payable. But coming up with yet another way of over-regulating the City is madness.

Yes the amount of money earned by some bankers is obscene. The same can be said of footballers and musicians. But in a free society it is simply not the role of government to penalise those who are successful. All that will happen is that those with high earning potential, drive and entrepreneurship flair will leave the country and then we will be left with a nation of mediocrity and envy.

Greed is good. For if it were not for the desire to better oneself and to be more and more successful, where would taxes come from and who would stimulate the economy. Achievement, wealth and being rich are not to be denigrated. They are aspirations that should be encouraged and praised.

Here is the Gordon I wish was in charge of our country: Gordon Gekko:

"The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed -- for lack of a better word -- is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms -- greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge -- has marked the upward surge of mankind. And greed -- you mark my words -- will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA."

How now, kowtow?

2009-11-15T11:32:00.003Z

One Term Barry, who famously bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia, has now bowed even more obsequiously to the Emperor of Japan.

How nice for Americans to see their President acting so submissively to foreign leaders...

Islamist cleric: "Muslims should quit the Armed Forces"

2009-11-15T08:47:00.000Z

The Director of the Islamic Centre of England, Ayatollah Abdolhossein Moezi, has called on British muslims to quit the Armed Forces.

My message to the Ayatollah: quit Britain. You are not welcome here.

Nelson will be turning in his grave

2009-11-14T12:55:00.003Z

If the craven attitude displayed by the Royal Navy when a boat was seized by the Iranians in 2007 was not bad enough, now we learn that an armed Royal Fleet Auxiliary tanker could have intervened to save Paul and Rachel Chandler from being kidnapped.

What, pray, is the point in having armed forces if they stand idly by when British citizens are attacked or kidnapped?