RIP John McAleese

John McAleese Dies (Source Mail Online)

I don't often do this sort of thing when I don't know them.  I see from the Mail Online article that John McAleese has died of a heart attack.

For those who aren't old enough to remember, here's some video of him in action (at about 25 seconds).



I recall that night as a boy visiting my Grandparents.  No one said much on those visits and we were watching a James Bond movie (how apt).  Back in those days, you knew it was serious when a programme was interrupted for a "newsflash", so when they stopped the James Bond film, everyone in my grandparents front room sat up and paid attention and back in those days, this was seriously dramatic footage.

McAleese and his colleagues became instant heroes to us all and we knew none of them.  There was no clue at the time who these ghosts in black gas masks were and for a while they disappeared as fast as they arrived, with newsreaders and reporters clutching at straws as to who they were and where they had come from.  What was certain they had become the stuff of legend.  It didn't take too long to learn they were SAS and who this regiment were, but it would take even longer to learn exactly how they did what they did at the Iranian embassy.

Part of their magic I think was that we as Britain's were proud of them following that exposure in the public eye.  To me they sent a message to those that wished us harm that we had men that would not back down in impossible circumstances and that in extreme situations we had ghosts that would come and get you.  For me they sent a message that we might still be little (and in many ways getting smaller) but pick a fight with us and you were still going to get knocked out because we had the bogeyman and you should be sacred.

So Mr McAleese sleep well and may you rest in peace because although we never knew you, you gave us glimpse of what heroes look like and reminded us of what we can be.

The Donkey Whisperer

h/t sistertoldjah

I really enjoy visiting that fine blog sistertoldjah and was there the other day when I stumbled across this video. Obviously its for a politician and although the comedy is fantastic there is a very serious thread running through it for those wishing to hear and see.  Unfortunately I don't really know that this applies to politicians here.  The more appropriate parallel in this country would be a blogger trying to get their "wake up Britain " message across to the population at large or to politicians steering the boat towards the edge of the waterfall.

British Tea - Right on the money

H/T Sue @ Muffled Vociferation

I couldn't put this better myself.

I have a suggestion

Slightly off topic for a blog based on the restoration of Britain to a prosperous and democratic nation, but it caught my eye and sent a chill down my spine.

Looking at various news sites, it seems the hunt for the current / former Libyan leader continues apace and our news teams are eating it up.  Tucked away in much of the current reporting are quotes such as this:

UK Defence Minister Liam Fox has confirmed that NATO is providing intelligence and reconnaissance assistance to rebels hunting Col Gaddafi
That sounds like boots on the ground to me because in all the chaos and the carnage I'm not certain what one could pick out from the sky to help find him.  If there are boots on the ground I would rather they go looking for something else.

It would seem that bodies such IAEA, among others have some concerns about the security of materials related to three decades of nuclear research and radioisotope production that could go into the production of a dirty bomb.  Despite the apparent reassurances by our political leaders there have remained persistent questions about precisely who these that we have been helping to arm are. That combined with the chaos leading to porous borders and a flotilla of refugees to mainland Europe, really makes me think that the hunt for the man with as many name variations as his uniforms should be left to others.  Our recon assistance, should really be chasing more scary stuff.

Seeing the wood for the trees

Whilst the PM's recent "cracking skulls" type soundbites might have resonated among those who are angry at what this nation appears to have descended into, there were questions amongst them as to what extent it would stick. It was in many respects knee jerk and I can understand that.  There was lots of finger pointing from either side of the political divide.  My finger still continues to point in a certain direction.

It soon became clear that there were multiple aspects to the violence and the looting.  One of them is the profile of the looters.  As cases continue to be heard, we see that the spectrum of people involved ranged from the anticipated "scrotes" who gorge on taxpayer funded "free sh*t" to lady chatterly types filling time before the ski season starts by mixing it with the nation's bit of rough.

For those who have read the paper on the Broken Windows Theory, there is little surprise here.  The basic premise here is that given permission to do so through the right signals, even so called respectable folk will engage in lawlessness.

I'm not intending to debate the whys and wherefores too much, except to say that it points to an underlying problem across the various systems which run our society.  There are a range of "broken windows" across the whole system, that invite people to take advantage of the mess.  Under the current system it simply isn't possible to seperate those who are beyond hope and redemption from those who simply do because everyone else is and they can get away with it.  For politicians looking to address the problems, they should start here as opposed to pratting about in pointless efforts such as shutting down communication tools.

One area they should really start with is welfare reform and the underclass it breeds.  The UK welfare system is like a golden tit that gives off a shine which can be seen across the whole planet and draws in the hoardes.  In a country that seems to be sliding down so many international scales, what could it possibly be that is causing people from across the world to beat a path to our door? Why are they forsaking, the allure of all of those other nations they pass through en route to beat a path to dear Old Blightie.  Of course I fully accept that some are genuinely seeking to escape opression, but in an adult conversation we have to accept that there is a huge group of people with only one destination in mind - Britain and when they land they plug straight into the benefits system.

But before anyone thinks this is an anti immigrant posting, I would like to point out that it is far from it.  Its about the signals that our welfare state gives off.  The high inward immigration is just one aspect of it.  The signal it sends among the British born population is one of a system that gives and asks for little or nothing in return.  It has done this to the point that single motherhood became a economically viable career choice.  We have people who are incapable in the realms of responsibility but high fliers in the dependency industry. Some of these are into their second and third generation of welfare addiction.  Some are people perfectly capable of becoming net contributors to the economy and know this but aren't because they know they can get away with it.

We therefore need a willingness  to address the two aspects of welfare. One to break the generational cycle and the other to send the true message of our welfare system.  The truth of the matter is that the golden tit has dried up.  Once we let the world know that, I think we might be amazed how many might seek to gorge at the nipple of another nation and how many might change.

It would at least give us a chance to see the real size of the problem.

Calling them out

Watch the video below and think about how it applies to the riots. As you've probably picked up though, it has nothing to do with the UK but at the same time it has everything to do with the UK (h/t Old Holborn)



I know what the story behind this video is. What really makes this video however is that Michael Nutter is the Mayor of Philadelphia. That's right an elected official stands there and tells it how he sees it. The fact that it contains some "uncomfortable" truths for some is what makes it especially powerful. This has nothing to do with the colour of his skin, or the colour of the skin of those the message is aimed at. It is about the fact that someone in office is willing to stand up and have an adult conversation about the nature of the problems that we face as society, something that our elected elite seems to want to avoid at all costs, reinforcing the notion that our a streak of infantalisation runs right through our elite.

Michael Nutter - you keep telling it like you see it!

British Tea - It really is time

Well what a week or more in which two of our largest chickens have come home to roost.  First we had the riots and now we are seeing another stage in our European financial crisis.  What is worse is we see our politicians responses to them both.  On the riots it seems the big idea is MORE, whether it be more money thrown at the problems of deprivation or more laws and restrictions.  On Europe and the financial crisis, the idea seems to be more as Merkel and Sarkozy seem to want more central control over Europe and pull in those who also sit on the periphery of the Eurozone.  The whole response is akin to trying to hose a fire down with a tanker full of petrol.  Having demonstrated time and time again that these approaches have had no effect other than to destabilise societies, they continue to push for more of it. 


We're heading down the wrong path and it goes to a scary place.  I have no problem with Europe.  It is vital we trade with them, both for our economy and theirs.  For me however there are things which should remain within the control of each individual sovereign nation, powered by their own democracy.  From that base I believe we can create the tools from which each nation, including our own can thrive and the people within it.  I do not believe I am alone in such thinking.  In fact I know I'm not.  I only have to look at the comments under the blog entries on independent bloggers as well as in the comments section on MSM websites, to know that the majority in this country want better.  Better for themselves, their families and their nation.  Yet despite that we continue what appears to be our march into the night.

That march has to stop.  I know when I look at the comments sections, people cry out to Britain to wake up as well as cry that someone should do something.  Although I think he has been a terrible US President, there was one thing that Barack Obama said correctly on his campaign trail when he told the people

"You are the miracle you've been waiting for"

Britain needs renewal on a whole range of fronts.  The first step is to renew our democracy because that is where all the decisions that have surrendered our nation and our sovereignty have taken place, by people who supposedly work for us.  We are being beaten over the head with our own money.  We are being taxed with no representation.  We need to renew our democracy through democratic lawful and legitimate means by holding those to account.  For too long we have shown no interest in politics yet all the time it has taken an interest in us.  The dynamic has been the wrong way round and it can go on no longer. 

In the US the model for this renewal has been ongoing in recent years in the form of the Tea Party movement and it has something we need.  Do not fall for the mainstream categorisation of this movement as full of cranks, racists and extremists as I will explain in future posts because there is much to learn from them as we take our first steps to renewing our country.

But the time is now, not in the future.  The signs are that the future will be too late.  The time is now because there is much to do.