Overarching outcomes of outsourced output...

Normally the titles of my blogposts need a little thinking about and this time is no exception: indeed it IS the whole point. Outcomes, Output, Outsourced and Overarching are all words on the list published earlier this year by the Local Government Association [Link to LGA] and brought to our attention again today by Anna Bawden over at The Guardian. At the time the LGA said

"We do not pretend to be perfect, but as this list shows, we are striving to make sure that people get the chance to understand what services we provide."

The idea was to ditch the jargon that is the daily fare of all public bodies so they can "communicate effectively with local people" (from the local shop) I think it's a fine idea; it's just this sort of bottom-up, blue sky thinking that lends itself to cohesive communities and citizen empowerment; it's right that they should champion - for every stakeholder - the functionality of this core message, area-focused with the leverage their democratic legitimacy bestows on them as a shared priority of sub regional partnerships reconfigured to utilise revenue streams by thinking outside the box with social contracts; upstream fastracking of this framework protocol as a baseline without slippage and with the fulcrum of our can-do culture you have to advocate the actioning of this across-the-piece interfacial network model...

You get the picture!

Old Oxfordian overseers...

Now you would expect that those that rule over the UK, sorry, I mean those who do the UK citizens bidding, well them in parliament (!!) would be well educated, even very well educated, even attending the best universities...but what do they all do? The older generation of politicians all seem to be solicitors or barristers...lawyers. Not any more: the new crop of modern, "trendy", "professional" politicians seem to be very similar, and with reason: half of them seem to have done the same degree at the same university: PPE at Oxford. From Little Man in a Toque

"I was reading this Guardian article about which of the Miliband brothers is least obnoxious when I got bored and scrolled down to the comments. And the comments alerted me to a very interesting fact: Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford University is responsible for much of our failed political class."

The article in question is HERE and the comments provide much of the info, but not all at once. Only the Miliband brothers at first then bit by bit other comments add to the list until we end up with the following by Trigmar posted at 25 Nov 2009, 12:45PM, albeit quoting several others as well (Toque has added more to get a mini cabinet and shadow cabinet)...startling. Ominous.

So to recap, the choices are: David Miliband (PPE degree from Oxford), Ed Miliband (PPE degree from Oxford), James Purnell (PPE degree from Oxford) and Ed Balls (PPE degree from Oxford).

I think this is New Labour's idea of diversity.

If they want a bit of female diversity they could always choose

Jaqui Smith (PPE oxford)
Yvette Cooper (PPE oxford)
Ruth Kelly (PPE oxford)

If they wanted a bit of unelected dark-knighted-ness they could always choose

Peter Mandelson (PPE oxford)

And hey, if the proles want a bit of a change we could always elect

David Cameron (PPE oxford) ably assisted by William Hauge (PPE oxford) [sic]

...and if we wanted to really push the boat out we could go crazy and go for a crazy liberal like

Chris Huhne (PPE oxford)

Is it any wonder that all our politicians say the same thing? The most influential political figures in British politics are the Oxford PPE lecturers...

And the proles could hear about it through the wonderful media:

Stephanie Flanders (PPE oxford)
Rupert Murdoch (PPE oxford)
Nick Robinson (PPE oxford)
Nick Cohen (PPE oxford)
Michael Crick (PPE oxford)
Krishnan Guru-Murthy (PPE oxford)
John Sergeant (PPE oxford)
James Robbins (PPE oxford)
Evan Davis (PPE oxford)
David Dimbleby (PPE oxford)

What would be interesting if some decent journalist/anyone with time could compile a list of all University PPE course graduates...it seems to me to be more urgent now - rather than just important - that any new MPs should have actually "lived" before joining the ruling elite.

Only obeying orders...

As is so often the case the bravest among us never see their own actions as brave or heroic. Captain Noel Chavasse is one of only three VCs and Bar in the 150+ year history of this highest award, those that have won two Victoria Crosses. After more than one episode of "conspicuous bravery" and dying of his own wounds he said "Duty called and duty must be obeyed." It's a wonderful story not very well known and in the news today after his VC and Bar was bought by Tory peer Lord Ashcroft for his VC collection (owned by a Trust); it is believed to have been purchased for a world record price of nearly £1.5 million.

Photo: TIME/GETTY IMAGES: Allied forces on the battlefield as they recapture the Passchendaele ridge. From the article in The Daily Telegrpah (click on image)

Odious oration...

Now Hugo is really pushing the boundries, and I'm not on about him ordering his troops to start destroying frontier bridges. Today he's been defending his "brothers": this not only about people responsible for 'destroying' entire nations but also know murderers and known terrorists. Robert Mugabe isn't who many sane people would call their brother, much less saying it of Idi Amin:

"We thought he was a cannibal," Chavez said, referring to Amin, whose regime was notorious for torturing and killing suspected opponents in the 1970s. "I have doubts. ... I don't know, maybe he was a great nationalist, a patriot."

...or Carlos the Jackal!

"They accuse him of being a terrorist, but Carlos really was a revolutionary fighter," [From AP about an hour ago] "Chavez said during a televised speech to socialist politicians from various countries, who applauded."

A person known (not just accused) of being guilty of multiple terrorist attacks, a known multiple murderer, well Chavez "defends" him; it's not the first time either, a few years ago he announced how he considers him a friend, and about that time Citizen Feathers reminded us he had corresponded with "El Chacal". Worth noting that letter was written AFTER Chavez became president. Let's hope that what Shimon Peres said last week turns out ot be true.

Occasional outrage...

Not an electrical outrage this time but there's certainly a current involved! Colleagues of mine are outraged (faux) by the news that The Royal Navy in the Strait of Gibraltar use buoys with a Spanish flag for target practice! From El Mundo online (no news yet in English) and clearly polemical - there are already nearly 200 comments, 40 or so of which were written whilst I was writing this blogpost (many, as one would expect, against the inaction of Spanish politicians!). El Mundo says that according to Military Institute 'sources' a Civil Guard patrol boat spotted a Royal Navy boat that, as soon as they [the British] detected the presence of the Spanish Civil Guard, picked up a buoy that had the Spanish flag attached which up to that point they had been using for target practice.

"La nave británica, al ver acercarse a la patrullera española, lanzó advertencias por megafonía: "No pueden estar ustedes aquí, son aguas internacionales"... ..."The British ship, seeing the approaching Spanish patrol 'launched' warnings by megaphone: "You cannot be here, these are international waters.""

Update 14:30: now over 500 comments but a fine response by one of many named anonimous (message 477):

Yo creo que ninguna bandera merece la enemistad de dos pueblos. Yo vivo en el Campo de Gibraltar y la convivencia entre espanioles y gibraltarenios es muy buena, de mucho respeto y todos queremos que asi siga siendo. Los politicos lo embrollan todo y lo ultimo que necesitamos en una de las regiones mas desfavorecidas del pais, es que ahora quieran enemistarnos con nuestros vecinos.

"I don't think any flag should cause (deserves) the enmity between two nations. I live in Gibraltar and the coexistence between the Spanish and Gibraltans is very good, with lots of respect and we all want it to remain so. Politicians entangle everything and the last thing we need in one of the most disadvantaged regions of the country is that they now want us to be at odds with our neighbours."

P.S. (11pm) Just in time to tell you that by one of those strange coincidences today is one of the 27 official UK's flag-flying days :-)

Orgasms: ollapod's ophelimity...

"Come on luv, give us a smile." "I can't manage that but how about a quick shag?"... A drug that underwent tests for use as an antidepressant has being called 'Viagra for women' after "surprising but not unpleasant side effects. In three separate trials, the drug flibanserin did wonders for women's flagging sex drive despite doing nothing to lift mood." [BBC] As would be expected some doctors are sceptical about use of medication to boost a female's sex drive but I don't know why, if certain foods and drink can then it seems logical and obvious that some sort of pill could be found: just like men, why would women be so different; the European Society for Sexual Medicine (click on image) tells us that

"Recent research suggests that approximately 40% of women may be affected by some sexual dysfunction."

Also, as I've mentioned before, more than once, one of the many sexual myths is that women, all women, experience orgasm with "penile penetration and thrusting" whereas research has shown that probably only one in four achieve orgasm in this manner!!! "A difference in sexual desire is one of the most common problems couples face and can cause much unhappiness and frustration if it is not talked about. Tiredness, depression, illness, stress, anxiety, relationship disharmony, drug or alcohol abuse can affect energy levels and sexual desire." No joking matter; so the lips are sealed.

ollapod n. - pharmacist
ophelimity n. - the ability to please (sexually)

"The conclusion - Corruption hurts everyone." "The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) measures the perceived level of public-sector corruption in 180 countries and territories around the world. The CPI is a 'survey of surveys', based on 13 different expert and business surveys." From Transparency International (the 'global civil society organisation leading the fight against corruption'). Corruption stats 2009:

LINK to full table.

New Zealand 1st
UK 17th: (no improvement of previous worst ever...)
Spain 32nd (getting steadily worse, this is the 5th year in a row that the perception of corruption has grown: Spain was bettered by two Latin American countries: Chile and Uruguay that were 25th =
Venezuela 162nd!!: most corrupt in Latin America, beaten only by Haiti as most corrupt in The Americas. What will Hugo say about this? I'm sure we won't have to wait long... [BBC Mundo]
Somalia last (180th)

LINK to interactive World map.

Out of one...

Out of one job and into another: this is the advice given to Philip Hammond MP (Conservative Party spending spokesman)..."what he doesn't know about public spending isn't worth knowing." But Dr Eamonn Butler, director of the Adam Smith Institute, believes he needs to become their spokesman on public service renewal based mainly on the [correct] premise that you can't streamline the public sector by Treasury bullying [ring any bells?]

"Instead, you need a complete review of what government does, what it has to do, what it can do better, and what can be done better by other people and by the public. All departments need to buy into that, and it needs a reform, not a finance minister in charge if everyone is going to trust the process and be a part of it. After all, the process may find that spending in some areas should be increased, even if other departments are found to be doing a lot of pointless stuff."

"Why Philip Hammond MP should resign" by Dr Eamonn Butler on the Adam Smith Institute blog [ASI blog]. Dr Butler is author of, amongst other things, "The Rotten State of Britain".

Hat tip; Iain Dale's Diary.

OBE obit...

I'll always remember as haunting - not so much compared to what we have these days - opening credits to Callan: "Troubled government assassin David Callan... The downbeat screenplay by James Mitchell, about a killer brought out of retirement for one last job... a bleak antidote to the jet-set secret agent lifestyle popularised by the James Bond films." [BFI Screenonline] The 'Screenonline video and audio content is only available through registered UK schools, colleges, universities and libraries' so if you can watch their offering then all the better; below is the opening credits to the TV episodes, this one appropriately named "Where Else Could I Go?"

Who is Callan?

His weapons are theft, blackmail, murder. The tools of the trade are the knife, the gun and an icy courage no other man possesses. He is the Destroyer.

His ordinariness is his protection. He is a highly-skilled cracksman, a master of unarmed combat, a dead-shot with a pistol. He is a killer. But he looks so much like everybody else he is invisible. It is only when you know him well that you realise his strength, his menace - and his charm.

Format Document for Callan TV series by creator James Mitchell. Taken from the excellent Edited Guide Entry by smij a few years ago.

Veteran actor Edward Woodward has died aged 79 [Obit: BBC] Stage, screen, TV, cabaret, records and radio: the whole hog. I don't just remember Callan: there was the fantastic cult horror film The Wicker Man and I liked the idea of The Equaliser as well, and the silly schoolboy jokes: could your golf club do that? Edward Woodward's wood would.

Onager's overwrought oratory...

I'm looking forward to today's Aló Presidente; don't worry, I won't be listening to the whole thing, the average time is 6 hours...can you imaginge 6 hours of ANY leader every Sunday? I wonder what pap Hugo will have to say today because last week, as reported everywhere e.g. BBC, he said "Let's not waste a day on our main aim: to prepare for war and to help the people prepare for war, because it is everyone's responsibility,". He was quite clear in what he said.

Image credit: Fotomontaje: Casa Editorial El Tiempo (CEET) Click on image for article in El Tiempo about whether the differences between Colombia and Venezuela can be sorted (in Spanish).

Now the Venezuelan government are saying they will punish any media that manipulates Chavez's words: Penarán a medios que "manipulen" palabras de Chávez [AFP, Spanish]:

Los medios de comunicación que "manipulen" las últimas declaraciones del presidente venezolano Hugo Chávez, en las que llamó a sus compatriotas a prepararse "para la guerra", serán sancionados, informó este viernes el director de la Comisión de Telecomunicaciones (Conatel), Diosdado Cabello.

The media that "manipulate" the latest statements of Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, in which he called on his countrymen to prepare "for war" will be punished, said Diosdado Cabello, the head of the Telecommunications Commission (Conatel), on Friday.

Now, Chavez did follow up what he said with "If you want peace, prepare for war," [*see below] so I can understand what God-given hair (ahem...) is on about and to that end the authorities will be monitoring and reviewing all past and current programming to check that the words weren't manipulated by being used out of context as clearly the context of preparing for war is simply a 'deterrent' phrase, (yes it is, honest) aimed at Bogota and Washington re U.S. troops using Colombian military bases. Needless to say Hugo has called Uribe both mafioso and a traitor for allowing this and believes that rather than being aimed at counter-narcotics offensives the Evil Empire is there to invade Venezuela.

Chavez made these statements during last week's Alo Presidente! but two days later he denied that his intention was to provoke armed conflict with Colombia although not surprisingly this and other actions belie these words: on Friday he insisted he was "not calling for any war,"...merely a call to "prepare for battle to defend the holy land of Venezuela" against possible aggression from the United States from Colombia. Well, I guess everyone will make their own minds up. Many already believe that all the fuss is just another way of creating a smokescreen for the Venezuelan government's mounting inefficiencies and also to weaken the local governments of Táchira and Zulia states both on the border with Colombia and both with govenors in opposition to Chavez.

*Si vis pacem, para bellum: "If you wish for peace, prepare for war", originally from Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum by the Roman military writer Vegetius but has been paraphrased more than a few times throughout history. Perhaps Chavez should state clearly what Andrew Carnegie said only seven years before the outbreak of WWI:

"These vast armaments on land and water are being defended as a means, not to wage war, but to prevent war.... there is a safer way ... it requires only the consent and the good-will of the governments. Today they say .... If you want peace, prepare for war. This Congress says in behalf of the people: Si vis pacem, para pactum: if you want peace, agree to keep the peace [Wiki]

Update 9pm (Spain): Well more of the same. The US government are the champions of cynicism, Obama should give back the Nobel peace prize because he sending more troops to Afghanistan and Pakistan, in Iran they are still killing women and children; supporting the coup in Honduras and that Venezuela would continue preparing for war because Colombia and the USA were warmongers. The Obama government look butt naked covering themselves with a fig-leaf, covering the truth (about the US military presence being in the fight against the drug gangs and guerillas) and he doesn't need or want anybody's (Spain, Brazil,...the Vatican!) help mediating. Normal day at the office really.

Outage or outrage...

...or both in this case; I bet it's not what you think! I'm on about a power outrage, or powercut! Earlier this week there was a power cut in Brazil, no big deal you think but it involved the Itaipu hydroelectric dam on the Paraná River between Brazil and Paraguay. It is the largest operational hydroelectric power plant in the world and the dam is second only to the Three Gorges Dam (Yangtze River, China) in its generating capacity. [Wiki] It was also elected as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World by American Society of Civil Engineers. The rated nominal power of each of the 18 (out of 20) generating units is nine times what all the water from the nearby natural wonder of the world, Iguaçu Falls, would have the capacity to generate. Not newsworthy? Just look at the image opposite, or if your eyes are like mine click on the image to enlarge (pdf). It was possibly bigger than the 1999 Brazil Blackout and certainly bigger than the Java Blackout four years ago (although in Java more people were effected). Now, only a few months ago, by complete coincidence, Brazil finally granted sovereignty of the dam (and a load more dosh) to Paraguay and although many in Brazil may suspect soemthing I'm sure this has nothing to do with the blackout, which has been blamed on the heavy storms...I just hope there are no similar storms for the World Cup and Olympics in a few years time!

Anyway, I was just impressed that it was pretty much the equivalent of the whole of Europe in a blackout!

Offering overtime...

"They don't get overtime for that - they get a bonus to compensate."...

'Numerology: MOD Expenses and Savings.' Posted yesterday by Matt Wardman on Thunderdragon... "Savings from Planned Cuts to Territorial Army Training and Bonuses Paid to MOD Staff." A picture paints a thousand words...

This may seem like a one-off but it's not: the MoD's own figures show a total of nearly £288 MILLION had been paid out in bonuses since 2003. All this is within budget and allowed under previously arranged pay deals...of COURSE it is! And all this seeking efficiencies and cutbacks? btw...The MoD employs 85,000 civil servants - one for every two active armed forces personnel - [BBC] not a problem in itself but how many of those are "really" necessary and are these bonuses performance related? Are they in lieu of lower salary?...I doubt it. Home Secretary Alan Johnson said that MoD civilians did "difficult and sometimes dangerous" jobs, going "into the front line" to develop techniques to protect troops from improvised bombs: where it is his "understanding is they work 17, 18 hours in Afghanistan... ...They don't get overtime for that - they get a bonus to compensate."

I have no doubt that SOME MoD civilians do indeed do this; well Mr. Home Secretary, find out if your understanding is correct; you should know! And how many of them do this and how much do they get? And what are their base salaries and what allowances do they get? I wouldn't mind betting the percentage that do what you say here is less than 2% of those recieving bonuses.

P.S. I know the Government has done it's U-turn i.e. "a total climbdown over the decision to cut the budget of the Territorial Army by £20 million" but this sort of problem won't go away and the TA has already had one budget cut this year of £23 million.

Official onanism...

"El placer está en tus manos" es el título de la campaña de la Junta de Extremadura para enseñar a los jóvenes a masturbarse; "autoexploración sexual y el autodescubrimiento del placer" [Telecinco, Spanish]

Not sure how? Not sure when? Not sure what? No worries, "Pleasure is in your own hands": the Officials in the Spanish region of Extremadura have launched a campaign to teach young people about "sexual self-exploration and discovery of self-pleasure". [The Guardian]

Now being taught how to wank could be interesting. Owsblog touched on this sensitive issue (phnarr, phnarr) a few years ago by explaining what the original onanist was told to do, it's not what you think. Anyway, some "questioned why the poorest region in Spain was paying for a campaign to promote onanism."

"Extremadura should be pleased with itself," sniped Pilar Rahola, a columnist in the Barcelona-based La Vanguardia newspaper. "It may have the most unemployed young people in Spain, but they will be the best at masturbation."

Organ operation obsession...

The BBC reports on new research published by BJOG (British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology) that more and more women are having surgical operations to create more aesthetic genitalia amid a "shocking lack of information on the potential risks of the procedure".

Operations to improve the appearance of the sex organs for both psychological and physical reasons are on the rise.

Talking of designer vaginas, here's a perfect cunt that's won another prize.

One official option...

Apologies for posting this on Armistice Day but slimy snake Mandy Lying Hypocrite Mandelson is being tipped as the sinister sounding Information Minister: the business secretary could hold weekly televised news conferences to explain government business... [The Guardian]

Here are some tips from someone I think is not too dissimilar:

1. Propagandist must have access to intelligence concerning events and public opinion.

2. Propaganda must be planned and executed by only one authority.

4. Propaganda must affect the enemy's policy and action.

6. To be perceived, propaganda must evoke the interest of an audience and must be transmitted through an attention-getting communications medium.

7. Credibility alone must determine whether propaganda output should be true or false.

9. Credibility, intelligence, and the possible effects of communicating determine whether propaganda materials should be censored.

11. Black rather than white propaganda may be employed when the latter is less credible or produces undesirable effects.

12. Propaganda may be facilitated by leaders with prestige.

13. Propaganda must be carefully timed.

14. Propaganda must label events and people with distinctive phrases or slogans.

a. They must evoke desired responses which the audience previously possesses

b. They must be capable of being easily learned

c. They must be utilized again and again, but only in appropriate situations

d. They must be boomerang-proof

And so on...Based upon Goebbels' Principles of Propaganda by Leonard W. Doob.

Update: Just reading some of the comments on that Guardian link (Andrew Sparrow exclusive) Just hilarious; clearly none too popular is our Mandy.

Once once...

It Is The Soldier...

It is the Soldier, not the minister who has given us freedom of religion.

It is the Soldier, not the reporter who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the Soldier, not the poet who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the Soldier, not the campus organizer who has given us freedom to protest.

It is the Soldier, not the lawyer who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the Soldier, not the politician who has given us the right to vote.

It is the Soldier who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag.

Original poem by Charles Michael Province.

Sorry, just had to post this; a very pretty girl with the welcoming name:

I Getmanova!

Irina Getmanova, 19, a student who looks very much like one of my sisters-in-law, won the Miss Siberia 2009 beauty pageant held at the end of October. (click on image to enlarge)

The lovely Irina was only one when the Cold War officially ended but seeing her in such a competition is just one on the - albeit less serious - benefits of the end of that war; also, today is the 20th anniversary of the fall of one of the most infamous borders ever that came to symbolize the Cold War and the 'Iron Curtain' between Western Europe and the Eastern Bloc.

Photo credit: RIA Novosti, Valery Titievsky

Just as quick update to last week's Overt overpopulation blogpost, do we now have the Whiff of a smoking gun? By David Leppard, Times Online (opens in one-page print mode)

Labour's 'open door' immigration policy knowingly risked allowing dangerous people to settle in Britain unchecked, according to documents seen by The Sunday Times.

"There is the added difficulty that at least 20 Labour seats, including Jack (Straw’s), depend on Asian votes".

With up to 80% of ethnic minorities voting Labour, it is obvious that the more immigrants who get the right to vote, the greater is Labour’s electoral share.

We're talking about law-breaking by ministers and officials at the highest level; another nail...

Observer opens ossuary...

The Observer has opened the ossuary, the charnal house, revealed the bones of the dead; there is no life in Labour now, just a shadow. No meat, just dry bones crumbling; how many more nails does this coffin need banging into it? Secret Labour plan to axe spending on training for young people: "Leak reveals cuts of £350m", "Business fury over jobs plan". Confidential papers have been leaked to The Observer proving that...

"while Brown and his ministers have suggested they are raising investment in training, skills and apprenticeships, behind the scenes they are preparing some £350m of cuts for 2010-11 that will slash the number of training places on offer by hundreds of thousands."

Now we all know that cuts will come and they are essential, but the pile of Brownstuff has consitently "sought to contrast Labour's determination to boost investment in training with what he claims is a Tory agenda of cuts that would prolong the downturn." Tory cuts vs. Labour investment...I know you know and he knows we know but again and again in Parliament Brown has knowingly lied:

"Now more than ever is the time to invest in our young people, their skills and their talents in training them for the future."

Empty rhetoric; I wouldn't mind betting the quaint Brownstuff already has soundbites prepared and written out for 2010 and 2011 when, presumably with a Conservative government, he can savagely decry their cuts...that he made. "What's particularly shocking about this document is that the bulk of the cuts are in front-line services" said Two Brains last night.

In Britain the first official Poppy Day was on 11th November in 1921, and the flower itself was inspired by the poem In Flanders' Fields written by John McCrae. The poppy wasn't chosen for it's historical symbolism of sleep and death although it is entirely appropriate [much of the bloodiest fighting of WWI and certainly among the worst battles in human history - trench warfare, chlorine gas - took place in the Flanders and Picardy regions of Belgium and Northern France: between 1915 and 1916 the Second Battle of Ypres and Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele), Battle of the Somme and Verdun. Names that still conjure up horror that most of us will never, thank God, know; the numbers of dead, wounded and MIA are staggering. Mind boggling.] no, basically, the poppy - a pretty, wild flower but also a hardly, common weed in Europe - was the only thing which grew in the aftermath of the complete devastation (click on image)

Oborne on odurate ogre's oligophrenia...

Peter Oborne in today's Mail online really puts the boot in and rightly so; I sincerely hope most people in the UK now realise that although Brown claimed the credit for the fact that the strength of the economy allowed him to boost spending on schools and hospitals he never once acknowledged that the conditions for his initial success - that he soon wasted by the rape and pillage of Prudence - were due to the actions of the previous (Conservative) administration.

Now, in fact all this year, Gordon Brown is in a very similar position to John Major in 1996 - 97 but there is no sign of the "magnanimity and sense of public duty" shown by John Major (or for that matter Jim Callaghan in 1979).

Very much the opposite: it now looks very much as if he has launched what some Whitehall officials describe a 'scorched-earth policy'.

What is clear, and what Oborne goes on to say, is that Crash Gordon is now "governing Britain purely for partisan or even personal advantage rather than in the national interest." Many have thought this for many months, because clearly, realising that the next General election is probably already lost (not a foregone conclusion but not many will be putting money on a Labour victory!) Brown is basically making sure the next Administration is deep in the brown stuff...oh I say!

Gordon Brown's only motivation in office now seems to be to try to guarantee that Britain is ungovernable if Cameron wins power. Not only is this tactic reckless and shameful, it means that the British people will pay a devastatingly high price for the last six months of Brown's profligate government.

Read more from Peter Oborne. "You may be doomed, Mr Brown, but stop dragging us down too": Daily Mail

Image credit and hat tip to Conservative Home: image and first link take you there.

oligophrenia: n. - feeble-mindedness
obdurate: adj. - obstinate; hard-hearted.
ogre: n. - a hideous, cruel giant of fairy tales/folklore that feeds on humans: a monster: a dreaded person

Our overflowing orifices...

Not only one's orifices, everything; although many strongly prefer the oily sites that our orifices provide. I'm on about our bacterial populations (hopefully you realised!). We're covered in trillions of different microbes, diverse populations; the University of Colorado at Boulder has developed the first 'atlas of bacterial diversity across the human body'; interestingly this diversity "Shows Wide Interpersonal Differences" [Link]

We know from a previous skin map that armpits "Are 'Rain Forests' for Bacteria" [NGN] so I guess it's logical that each human "continent" would have diverse populations albeit with some similarities. Or, as Julia Segre (National Human Genome Research Institute) said about the skin map, "The bacteria in my underarm are more similar to those in your underarm than they are to those on my forearm". Nice. And don't forget either that we are not as human as we think: for every hundred cells in your body, 99 are bacteria.

The new 'atlas' work - according to the lead researcher Dr Rob Knight - is "the most complete view we have yet of the microbial side of ourselves, one that our group and others will be adding to over the coming years...

...The goal is to find out what is normal for a healthy person, which will provide a baseline for further studies to look at people with diseased states."

Ouch II...

For those who think the blog post below this one about David Cameron and the EU will have an effect on the next general election then it's worth looking at the image on the left (follow link to bigger image and original article).

Worst In The World

"You should remember this chart next time you hear Brown/Darling or one of their media apologists telling us we are helpless victims of an international problem. The reality is that we are worse placed than anyone else - including basket cases like Ireland and Iceland.

Once again, Labour have flown our public finances into the mountainside."

h/t Burning our Money

Organising opt-outs...

David Cameron: A Europe policy that people can believe in.

In summary: A Conservative Government will never allow us to become part of a federal Europe and we have devised a series of specific measures which protect Britain from this happening in future. We will seek a mandate from the British people to implement these measures at the forthcoming General Election.

Full speech PDF.

"We cannot hold a referendum and magically make those posts – or the Lisbon Treaty itself – disappear, any more than we could hold a referendum to stop the sun rising in the morning."

This is what many have been struggling to say for the last couple of days against the tsunami of misinformed, mischievous and downright lying rants against David Cameron, not least from Labour and UKIP. I compared their squawking to wanting to have a referendum last week's football results, DC has used the rising sun....same difference.

The decision to promise, and then deny, a referendum was taken by Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

The betrayal was backed and matched by the Liberal Democrats.

Exactly. This is what needed to be drummed home; that said, I think the expenses saga and the economy will, despite the contrived hoohah this week, dominate the thoughts of hoi polloi come voting time.

People are fed up with the endless lies and spin, they just want to know what we can achieve and how. That is what I will deliver.

What I am promising today is doable, credible, deliverable.

Another vitally important point and pissing on the fireworks of those that say Lisbon means no further treaties so a referendum on future treaties is not worth anything David Cameron had this to say: a Conservative Government will change the law so that the British people have to give their consent in a referendum to any future transfer of power.[Link]

Never again should it be possible for a British government to transfer power to the EU without the say of the British people.

Good enough for me...

Hat tip and PDF source: Conservative Home.

Overt overpopulation...

They really don't realise what a complete fuck-up they've made, do they? Home Secretary Alan Johnson has admitted that "the government has made mistakes in handling immigration" but as usual it's not quite as honest as you'd think he added that he accepted

"that governments of both persuasions, including this one, have been maladroit in their handling of this issue"...

Eh? What a lying hoon, this Labour government is THE one and only problem, no other: NET immigration quadrupled between 1997 and 2007. It has been well over three years since I posted on the Overwhelming open-door onslaught and Overcrowding or overeacting and what seems clear is that it certainly wasn't overreaction: nothing has changed and the numbers are clear: from 1991 to 1997 average net immigration was growth of just under 41 thousand per year (a high of 77 thousand in 1994 and in two of those years there was actually a slight decrease) In 1998 there was a leap of 200% and it hasn't dropped since (average of over 180 thousand for the ten years from 1998)!! What you say AJ is too little, too late. Last year we heard that NET immigration to the UK was 237,000; at the time Frank Field said,

"Today's figures will come as a shock to ministers. Net migration is much higher than expected. This means immigration has directly added a million people to the UK's population in just the past five years."

Of course we know WHY you're saying this now: this issue has well-and-truly raised it's head above the parapet after the SHOCKING [but half expected and generally presumed by those of us "of the right"] revelation last week that immigration was encouraged by Labour for political gain. So says Andrew Neather who was a Home Office adviser and speechwriter for Tony Blair. Looking at the figures there is NO DOUBT WHATSOEVER. All the increasing wooly-arsed Woolas could say was "this government has reintroduced border controls..."

The latest projections for growth confirm that immigration is "driving [the UK] population to new heights. If nothing is done, we will have an extra 10million people within 25 years - and nearly 70 per cent of them as a result of new immigration.". The words of Sir Andrew Green, Chairman of Migration Watch UK. "We must halt this conspiracy of silence over our immigration crisis": Read more.... And even more in Sir Andrew's letter to The Guardian last week: "The real threat of immigration" where he mentions an important fact: if the UK wants

"to stabilise our population at 65 million we need to reduce net immigration to zero."

...but of course that doesn't mean that there should be NO immigration as twits like Alan Johnson try to make out ("no sensible argument for immigration to cease altogether") it "means that immigration should be reduced to the level of emigration, which is currently about 100,000 a year." Still not enough for many but certainly a step in the right direction.

Apologies for the vertitable "link fest"...