Sunday 29 June 2008

A sign of things to come

Under 'New' Labour, where Sweden goes, the UK follows...

Gordon is known to be a fan of Sweden's social welfare system. So this story is quite alarming.

A little boy didn't invite two of his classmates to his birthday party - one because they weren't friends, the other because there was no reciprocal invitation.

Sounds fair enough? Bloody Hell, sounds pretty generous to me - can you imagine how expensive that is, particularly now that parties are no longer a piece of cake and a game of 'pass the parcel'.

Anyway, the school doesn't think so. Apparently, children have to invite all of their classmates to such a party, in case one of the little darlings gets so upset that they wreak a horrible revenge on 'society', e.g. getting a job as a civil servant or becoming an MP or Government Minister stabbing people, robbery, etc.

So, how has his been resolved? A quiet word from the class teacher? A short note home to the parents? A phone call from the Head?

Well, no. The school has complained to the Swedish Parliament!

And have they told her to sod off? Apparently not. What the fuck next? What the Hell is wrong with these socialist, nannying societies? And when is this going to be transplanted to the UK, now dominated by socialist, nannying twats like Harriet Harperson?

I can't wait - no doubt, when the Bishop's son doesn't want to invite one of his classmates round for tea, we will be prosecuted under the Human Rights Act, and forced to pay the kid compensation. No matter if the kid comes from a chav family, or is a bully or a thief.

What the fuck?


BB

I do hope Gordon...

isn't planning a visit to Germany soon.

Well, what else would they use them for? :)

Wanker of the Week

Well, there's a lot to choose from...

Wee Wendy
Tory MEPs
Lady Ian Blair

The obvious candidate is Robert Mugabe. But that would be too easy...

This will be controversial :), but Nelson Mandela is a good candidate - why can't he be straightforward and say that Mugabe is a cunt? Not in those words exactly (surely not from St. Nelson?!), but you know what I mean?

But he did at least say something vaguely critical...

Unlike this week's total and utter wanker, Thabo Mbeki.

How many people have to die in Zimbabwe, you total and utter cunt? Do you share Mugabe's twisted, racist views that 'white people and their "Uncle Tom" friends deserve what they're getting'? Do you want South Africa to go the same way? Why do you think so many Zimbabweans have fled to shit lives in your country, where they are threatened by thuggish South Africans (who don't have jobs because of your stupid labour market laws)?

Lest we forget, one of Mugabe's henchmen rejoices, yes rejoices, in the nickname 'Hitler'! If it wasn't so tragic....

Well, the Bishop, as you know, is not normally a fan of Trade Unions, but has to applaud Cosatu for not toeing the line of their ally Mr Mbeki and speaking the truth about Mugabe, and their members who have blocked Chinese shipments of arms, destined for Zimbabwe, from going through South African ports.

And even the next President, Jacob Zuma, who has been accused of rape and accepting bribes - and so is hardly morally impregnable - and worries some in South Africa (the Bishop does not necessarily accept the worst of these worries, and is reassured by some of Zuma's comments) about his likely approach to the Presidency, has vocally condemned Mugabe.

So, Mr Mbeki, when are you going to take action?

I'm sure that it makes no difference to him, but he is this week's Wanker of the Week by miles and miles. The Bishop feels physically sick that he once clapped Mr Mbeki at a speech :(

Pigs in Shit Special?

Whilst perusing Hansard recently (the wonderful life of a Diocesan Council bureaucrat! :), the Bishop noticed the lobbying efforts of Richard Bacon MP, on behalf of British pig farmers and pork products...

Does the editor of Hansard have a sense of humour? Or does Mr Bacon? The Bishop thinks we should be told...

Either way, the exchanges here demonstrate the ignorance of basic economics of our lords MPs and masters.... Don't expect any changes to the ludicrous CAP from the Tories...

Given the vested interests - and possible financial backing (must look up Mr Bacon's declaration of interests...) - behind this lobbying effort, perhaps this is a special example for Guido's 'Pigs in Shit' ratings system?

The Bishop has lost his appetite for British Bacon - I encourage you to buy Danish....


BB

Saturday 28 June 2008

Europhiles rumbled!

Dear Reader,

Apologies for the light blogging recently - travel and Mrs B's demands for DIY around the house (despite the Bishop's, ahem, 'differently-abled' DIYing talents... :) have cut into the Bishop's blogging time.

The good news, however, is that the Bishop is able to catch up with things now...

First story: many of you may have noticed this recent gem on the (usually reliably Europhile) BBC website about wonky bananas and overly-bent cucumbers...

Hang on a second! Weren't these things supposed to be myths peddled by evil Eurosceptics?!

Well, no, apparently not. Indeed, it appears that our friends in Brussels have had time to determine the precise required geometry of particular fruits and legumes. For example,

"the difference between the smallest and largest aubergines in the same package must not exceed 20mm for elongated aubergines [and] 25mm for globus aubergines"

What the fuck?! Why do such regulations exist? Are shoppers really so stupid that they would allow themselves to be ripped off by supermarkets on things like this? What happened to caveat emptor?

The reality, as the Bishop has seen at the Diocesan Council, is that the more bureaucrats there are, the more that stupid laws will be created - when people are judged by what they do, and punished for doing nothing (even if it is the most sensible thing to do), who can blame them for doing it?

Nor is the claim in the above link that legislation on bananas was sought by the industry is no excuse. Given that companies are not normally big fans of extra legislation (because it means higher costs), the question that needs to be asked is why would they actually want more legislation. The answer, of course, is to squeeze out potential new entrants or increase costs for smaller competitors.... Again, another cost of too many civil servants is that it increases the number of people in positions of power that can be 'captured' by vested interests.

So, when Europhiles claim that 'there are actually very few civil servants in Brussels', I suggest you send them this post, and ask them to justify the waste of time, food (that gets thrown away) and resources (e.g. the significant pay of the Eurocrats involved, not to mention the costs of enforcing these stupid rules to taxpayers and consumers).

The answer is to follow the usual rule of thumb with regard to the EU, i.e. to tell them to go forth and preferably not multiply :)

What makes this even worse, as the Al-Beeb article makes clear, is that the stupid tossers in Brussels want to respond to the current 'Global Food Crisis' (a result of monstrous stupidities such as the Common Agricultural Policy) by adding even more bureaucracy to the mess:

'The Commission says misshapen fruit should be sold "with some sort of label for use in cooking"'

Well, that sounds like a sound basis for legislating! Perhaps we should ask the people who wrote the Dangerous Dogs Act to help in drafting it?

Suggestions in the comments about the definition of 'label' for the legislation would be most welcome... The Bishop will then forward them to Brussels, in a spirit of 'solidarity' with our 'fellow European serfs citizens'.


BB

Sunday 15 June 2008

Support the Devil!

Not something the Bishop normally says, of course, but....



Friday 13 June 2008

Blows for Freedom

Friday the 13th - the Curse is Lifted! As Mrs T once said, Rejoice, Rejoice!

How proud the Irish should be*. After David Davis struck a first blow for freedom yesterday (on which I may blog later, although others have already done so wonderfully, particularly DK and Guido), another blow was struck today.

God willing, may these be the first of many!

*The Bishop should make it clear that he is half-Irish, but cannot claim any credit, as he failed to gain citizenship in time to vote. If those cunts in the Commission think they can try again to reverse a democratic verdict (as with Nice and Maastricht), I hope I will be joined by many in the UK who have been denied a vote by that lying sod Brown but are entitled to Irish citizenship in applying for it, and then voting for a 'No'...

The new 'Axis of Evil'?

Everyone has heard of the Axis of Evil so beloved of George W Bush. But one part of that Axis - Saddam Hussein - is dead. That leaves Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, and North Korea (although there are signs that the latter is gradually moving...). All of them are, of course, complete ***** (censored by Mrs Brennan...;)

However, the Bishop has come across worrying news about the formation of a new 'Axis'.

What is particularly concerning is that this axis involves Italy and is led by someone called 'Adolf'. And it involves French collaboration... :) Now where have I heard that one before???

Italy and France. Fucking selfish, ignorant bastards (sorry Mrs B! :), who want to keep poor countries poor and screw European consumers... and their own economies into the bargain...

What a wonderful 'vision' to inspire us to believe them about the EU Constitution 'Lisbon Treaty'...


BB

Update: As Jon Stewart pointed out on the (wonderful) Daily Show last night, the original Axis of Evil has been reduced to just Iran, now that North Korea has successfully blackmailed succumbed to the US. Perhaps Mr Bush could now focus on this new Axis...

Wednesday 11 June 2008

Wankers of the Century (Special Edition)

What do you think of Gordon and his new 'friends' in the Dumbass 'Democratic' Unionist Party (DUP)?

Personally, I think they are utter CUNTS.

These are the people that go on, at tedious length, about being 'British'.

Well, of course, as the Bishop has pointed out before, they are Scottish. And this might explain why they couldn't give a flying fuck about the British English values of freedom founded on Magna Carta. And they left Scotland before the great Scottish defenders of freedom - no, not William Wallace (who bore no relation to the crap personified by the Jew-hating Mel Gibson), but Adam Smith, JS Mill, etc.

And, as is traditional with Scots and the Scots in Northern Ireland, our wonderful leader has, no doubt, bunged even more English taxpayers' money at Northern Ireland in order to pass a vote to reduce our freedoms. Truly, could there ever be a truer example of a deal with the being that Ian Paisley actually worships (clue: it's no God of mine)?

Just to be clear, courtesy of our TV tax licence, here is a list of those who have betrayed you, me and the whole of the UK:

Gregory Campbell, Nigel Dodds, Jeffrey Donaldson, The Rev William McCrea, The Rev Ian Paisley, Iris Robinson, Peter Robinson, David Simpson, Sammy Wilson

Frankly, the word 'wanker' doesn't suffice for these morons. Not only do they have blood on their hands for the years of conflict in Northern Ireland that could have been solved if they had agreed to give Catholics civil rights. Now, they are likely to radicalise Muslims because of renewed internment (it was such a success in Northern Ireland, after all...), resulting in more murders of innocent people. Burning in Hell isn't good enough for them.

In a so-called democracy, when we have to rely on the House of Lords to protect us from this Government of scoundrels from internment and from an EU treaty which few in this country actually want, the Bishop is left wondering why he should bother to vote. But that's what they want - we need to vote these assholes out...


BB

Update: Martin Kelly has posted on this too. So, although we won't agree on the Scottish element of my comments, we do agree on some things! :) And the comments are worth reading too.

Saturday 7 June 2008

Archbishop D'Inde

Dear Reader (if you're still here...),

First, apologies for the non-blogging of late. Partly because I've been on a leave of absence, and partly because I'm a lazy sod... :( But I hope my forthcoming posts will make up for it...

The Bishop has been upsetting some at the Diocesan Council recently, particularly Archbishop D'Inde and his cronies...

Archbishop D'Inde is in day-to-day charge of the Council's investments. Now, whilst he seems to do extremely well at 'managing relationships' with banks - well, no shit, I mean they want our money! - he seems to have dug himself in something of a hole with some of his investment decisions, although, to be fair, Cardinal Sam and the Pope himself share a great deal of the blame.

In particular, D'Inde et al have invested a very large proportion of the Diocese's funds into one particular institution, and claimed that it was a zero-risk investment... and then adopted an investment policy based on the same strategy for the future. Whilst the Bishop objected loudly, and a few others quietly, most in the Diocesan Council didn't dare question D'Inde's approach...

Unfortunately, some (rather sick looking) chickens appear to have come home to roost:

  • As the Bishop mentioned ages ago, his willingness foolishness to openly question D'Inde has been severely punished, with the Diocese's first openly-female archbishop, Archbishop Kerry, together with D'Inde, coming down on BB like a ton of bricks... despite D'Inde later backing down on some of his most foolish policy decisions. The lesson for anyone thinking of dissenting from received (from above) wisdom in future is clear...
  • At the same time, the Cardinal has been musing on the lack of experience amongst the more senior clergy... this may be linked to the last point, a culture encouraged by his Eminence's predecessor. The Cardinal is apparently concerned that this may underpin some of the problems in the Diocese and the Diocesan Council. No shit, Sherlock! However, nothing will be done about it whilst the current senior clergy are in place (note to Cardinal Sam's successors (Archbishop Ozzie is apparently in the frame): you'll need to clear out a lot of people - replace them from outside the Diocesan Council...)
  • Oh, and the financial outcome... what was 'risk-free' is apparently very high risk... I fear that £3bn is not the last we'll hear of it...
Oh well. The parishioners will simply have to put their hands in their pockets again. Tithes to rise significantly... but it will be the Cardinal's successor who will be left to do so, and sort out the mess (let's hope there isn't an appeal to Rome again, like there was in the 70s, when the Diocesan Council last fucked up on such a scale...).

And Archbishop D'Inde will no doubt receive a fat bonus and a promotion for his efforts (Archbishop Kerry already has... :(


BB

Wankers of the Week

Dear Readers (that is, if you haven't gone back to being 'Reader'...),

A very thoughtful post (as ever) by Snuffleupagus on the education system, how many teachers leave it very quickly after starting, and the sheer dishonesty of the Government's claims that education standards are rising.

This only demonstrates the point of the Bishop's previous post making the (admittedly, rather obvious, but still, sadly, necessary) point that throwing money at something is no solution.

Now, to be balanced (OK, so not something the Bishop is always accused of), it does appear that primary education has improved over the last 10 years, although the Bishop would attribute this to a focus on the basics of literacy and numeracy, rather than money (although primary teachers were pretty badly paid, at least in the South-East, and this did need improving). And this was after years of the answer being obvious - not a tribute to the Tories, but hardly one to the civil servants advising them.

But secondary and university education.... what the fuck? Will someone in what used to be known as the DfES, and is now known as the Dept for Cocksuckers, Socialists and Fascists (DCSF) and the Dept for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) fucking visit some schools and universities and grasp what is happening. [BTW, don't DCSF and DIUS sound like rather nasty venereal diseases? The Bishop can imagine - Doctor: 'I'm afraid you have a very nasty case of DIUS. I'm very sorry, but there is no hope of a cure...']

DCSF is, of course, also responsible for a wide range of nonsensical Government policies, e.g. parents being sent to prison for smacking their children, PC nonsense which is leading to the closure of Catholic Adoption Agencies, social workers being sent to middle-class homes so as not to 'penalise' the underclass, etc. And, last but not least, the fiction that academic and vocational courses can be brought onto a 'level playing field' if you call them both a 'Diploma'. [Why can't we restore A Levels to the gold standard that they once were, and put much of the money wasted by Gordon the Moron into a decent system combining apprenticeships and formal education for non-academic kids from 14 onwards? Would that really be too hard? Really?!]

That is why the Bishop is nominating the entire staff at the 'DCSF' for the award of Wanker of the Week. To be honest, 'wanker' is hardly enough for a bunch of Commie twats that are literally wrecking the life chances of a large number of kids. But the Bishop has no power to do anything else (other than pray, of course - never discount the power of prayer!), so this is his small contribution... :(


BB

Sunday 1 June 2008

No shit, Sherlock...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/jun/01/justice.ukcrime

Why is this a surprise? When will socialists learn? Throwing money at problems doesn't solve them.

That's why the Libertarian Party can safely promise to reverse course on spending, reduce spending levels to pre-Gordon Brown days, and abolish income tax - it's all been wasted. From 50%+ salary increases for doctors, who work less, to the extra Inland Revenue staff needed to dole people's money back to them via tax 'credits' to virtually everything these morons have done to this country.

And those morons at the Observer say: let the fuckers go!


What the fuck? A welfare state that has infantilised the poor; released criminals early and given murderers 5 seconds in jail and more human rights than the law-abiding; made people think that they deserve to have their annual holiday in the sun, even if they have done fuck all in terms of work; welcomed in Islamists who want to kill us and paid them to do so: and taken money from genuine 'hard working families' and singles to pay for all the waste, and now condemns people to death for having the nerve to pay for part of their treatment for themselves, all in the name of 'equality'...

FUCK OFF! YOU FUCKING CUNTS.


Voters of Henley - you want to send a message to Gordon the Moron? Vote Libertarian!

Bishop Brennan, 'Spineless Coward'?

Dear Readers,

As either of you might have seen, the Bishop has had something of a run-in (second post down, as of 1 June) with a rather aggressive Scot (a Unionist of all things - I had thought they were largely extinct, so perhaps I should regard myself as privileged...). Unfortunately, he took exception to one of my comments on Devil's Kitchen - and I have apologised, given that he clearly is not used (or cannot get used) to some of the rude nature of the Blogosphere, even though he writes on the Kitchen...*

What surprised the Bishop most, however was that he described me as a 'spineless coward'. Apparently, this is because I blog under a pseudonym. Clearly, that would make Eric Blair (aka George Orwell) a spineless coward. Strange logic, given that he fought in the Spanish civil war, but I guess it takes all sorts...

However, it has introduced me to the wonders of Mr Kelly's blog. And what wonders they are! Apparently, economics, with its belief in 'turbocharged capitalism', is completely counter to Catholicism**! As both a Catholic and an economist, the Bishop finds this assertion puzzling. Economics can provide a guide as to how best to maximise welfare, i.e. improve the lives of everyone. It is those who ignore its lessons - the former Soviet Union (hardly a friend of the Catholic Church), say, or North Korea, or even France - that wreck the lives of the poor and needy, and increase their number. For example, France's antipathy to Free Trade (shared by Mr Kelly) directly increases poverty in developing countries, by screwing over poor farmers and increasing the volatility of food prices (as we are seeing at present). It is people like Mr Kelly, who wish to turn back the tide away from Free Trade, who are behaving in a way that is inconsistent with Catholicism, by condemning the poor to a continued existence in poverty.

What has become of the land of Adam Smith and JS Mill, reduced to an existence on the coat-tails of England, reliant on oil that won't last forever and protectionism against evil Norwegian salmon farmers?! I think that Mr Kelly illustrates the root cause some of Scotland's problems, including (despite his protestations - judging by the survey results shown on his sight - to be a 'conservative') his socialism. The sooner England is rid of the Socialist Republic of Scotland, and the moronic socialist politicians and would-be dictators that it sends to Westminister, the better. And the Scots can pay the £billions a year in support for the descendants of Scots in Northern Ireland, sent there by a Scottish King, James VI (I of England). Remember - it was that asshole who began the rape of England for the benefits of Scots [who could forget his 'Master of the Wardrobe' (bum chum - James' strict Calvinist upbringing clearly had no impact on his proclivities - can anyone think of a modern Scottish leader who is like that?...), James Hay, with his motto of 'Spend and God Will Send'].


BB

*To be honest, the police are unlikely to be interested in my comment (given e.g. that they ignore the multiple comments made about Gordon Brown on DK, Guido, etc.), although they might not like my comments about Islam on this blog...

**This is rather reminiscent of Tony Blair's claim at one time that it was impossible to be a Conservative and a Christian. He should know...