Gordon Brown to Head IMF

A friend just sent me an email. He joked that Gordon Brown was to be made head of the IMF on a salary of £330,000.

I've put the cricket bat in the back of the car and I'm driving round to my mates house now to give him a good thumping. Some things are just so tasteless and far fetched they really should not even be aired, even as a bad joke.

Just to make it worse he made out it wasn't really a joke - it was being seriously considered.

He even gave some links to this fairy land story from The Guardian (Here) and the  The BBC (Here).

After I've taught him his lesson about how not to make sick jokes about financial incompetents I'm sure we will all feel better. Though my trusty cricket bat may be a little dented.

But really, who can my friend think he was kidding?

Surely nobody would be so stupid enough to give  Gordon Brown a job on the tills at the local McDonalds, let alone a leading role in our financial future.

Honestly, Gordon Brown as head of the IMF? It is simply NOT funny!

Extracting Gordon Brown

I had a cynical little smile tonight when the Dear Leader was on the Box telling us that he will, for the moment, remain in No 10, and will deal with anyone.

I reckon that the only way you will get Gordon Brown out of No 10 will be with a crowbar and a pair of pliers.

I can imagine Gordo, with his arms wrapped around the bannister of the stairs screaming Nooooooo! as the electorate frantically pull on his legs towards the door.

Expect some breathtaking offers in the next few days and some blatant power plays from all corners but especially from the King.

We live in “interesting times”, in the worst Chinese interpretation of that phrase.

God Bless you, my fellow sour faced little Englanders. Let us hope that in the coming flux our country at least gets a look in.

Bigotry, Anonymity and Immigration

This morning Billothewisp found he had this comment on this post concerning the Dear Leader, bigotry and a charming working class lady called Mrs Duffy.

The commentator, who goes under the funny name of "Anonymous" demanded facts and criticised some of the post. He/She even criticised bits I did't say and were not there, but never mind.

Billothewisp is pleased to get a criticism and happily provides the information. Blow by Blow.

So to "Anonymous": Thank-you for the question and challenge. You appear to have three areas of contention.

1. Anonymous: "Where's the evidence for your view that most Brits living abroad are retirees? Statistics and sources please."

Reply: Read what I said. ("most of the Brits staying in Europe are retirees or in high demand jobs.")

Read This BBC Report ( slightly old (2006) but do you think anything has changed? Also it is the same data cited by the Labour party in defence of Gordon Brown. Ironically, it is from his friends in the IPPR).

From The above link: ONS Passenger survey for emigrants:
40% professional managerial,
25% Manual/clerical
17.5% retirees/carers,
9.3% children
7.9% students

This is of course world wide emigration. Emigration to Europe is skewed more to retirees. Emigration to Australasia and the Americas is skewed to younger professionals.
See this BBC piece: Quote: "Many of those going appear to be young and highly skilled... The second group, particularly in Europe, are the middle-aged, retired or semi-retired."

I could go on from the BBC alone. The best source though is not the BBC, which is far from impartial (I'm using it first here because I suspect you love the BBC - I hate it)

This is an excellent account of this issue from Channel 4 website FactCheck. Better than anything the BBC produces.

But if you really want the Meat and Potatoes see What is the problem? This page at Migration Watch summarises extensive and detailed information concerning mass immigration. Trawl the Migration Watch website here and learn about the problem.

2. Anonymous: "Also, would you not say that her description of "immigrants" "flocking in" is both dehumanising and very problematic.

Reply: As for Mrs Duffy, From the latest reports I understand she turned down £30K from the Sun who wanted to put words in her mouth. So at least her personal integrity exceeds that of most MP's. So how would you describe 1M arrivals in such a short time to a single country? Flocking seems reasonable to me.

3. Anonymous: "Again, where is the proof that Eastern European immigrants have had an adverse impact on the economy, on the services that people receive from the state, on cultural life. Support your claims"

Reply With regard the Polish/East European influx, please read what I said and not what you want me to have said.

What I said: "The million(s) coming in are at best (like the Poles) looking for work and contributing through taxes. Although it can only be unhealthy for both England and Poland to have such a large number of workers dislocated from their own country. Like it or not, it does also mean less work for the locals."

To expand a little on what I actually wrote above:

The problem with the Poles is not their work ethic, attitude or honesty. The problem is simply the sheer numbers arriving. They are usually skilled and hard workers. Nothing wrong with that. But they often take jobs well below their actual qualification/ability level and displace the poorer and less able locals who end up on the dole. That was Mrs Duffy's worry (mine also). Further more, imagine what their absence is doing to the infrastructure in Poland.

Although I did not mention the impact immigrants have on the overall economy and social infrastructure I would suggest you read What is the problem? Section 10 and it's references. It may well challenge some of your pre-conceptions.

Finally:

The main theme of the post was that immigration is the taboo subject and that anyone mentioning is automatically (and unfairly) labelled a bigot.
I suspect you're allegiance is to the intellectual end of the Labour party. As such I suspect you (like your colleagues) are totally divorced from the cares and concerns of the the working class within this country (people like Mrs Duffy). Your blinkered and elitist attitudes isolate and frustrate fair, decent and loyal people.

Mainly due to Labours duplicitous handling of immigration, there is a possiblity that the BNP may get an MP elected. If that happens it will be solely because this issue has been ignored and brushed under the carpet. If this happens it will be due to people like you air-brushing out this problem and sneering at the concerns of honest people.

In other words it will be your fault.

p.s Why be anonymous? Only voting should be anonymous. How can I be influenced by your views if I cannot read your blog?

I Am Sorry Too, Gordon

Billothewisp would also like to offer his grovelling apologies to the population of our ravished little land.

Taking a lead from Gordon our great magnifico, let me say:

Sorry Sorry Sorry Grovel Squirm dribble wriggle whine.

Oh God. I AM SO SORRY.
Really.
Honest.

I am so grief stricken.
So overwhelmingly contrite and guilt ridden I can only repeat:

Sorry.

If you wish you can watch me flagellate myself (that is flagellate - you pervert)

I will cut myself with knives, gouge my flesh, smash my head against a wall anything to show my penance.

Sorry, sorry sorry

Oh GOD. I am so so so so so so Sorry.

But my sorrow is somewhat different to yours Gordon.

You are sorry because you were caught being a duplicitous conniving arrogant elitist bastard.

I am sorry because I voted for your bunch of criminally negligent do-nothings at the last election. (I hasten to add that is not a mistake I intend to repeat.)

So Gordon, after you are consigned to some powerless (but no doubt lucrative) backwater I will still be sorry, along with about 60 million other of your victims.

So to you Gordon, I can only that I am really sorry that you ever got to a position of authority.

As to my voting aberration during the last election, I must say to my fellow sour faced little Englanders:

Sorry.

So Why Exactly, is Gillian Duffy a Bigot?

The Dear Leader has got himself into a spot of bother.

The trouble is, our Gordon is so accustomed to dishing out the laws and edicts it must come as a shock when one of the proles starts asking pointed questions. Especially if they are questions about the Great Taboo.

And what is the Great Taboo?

It is, of course, the topic that must not be mentioned.

It must be avoided at all costs.Any queries must be crushed.

Anyone querying the great taboo must be vilified, smeared, derided and despised.

Gillian Duffy, a working class grandmother and pensioner crossed the line.

She mentioned the Great Taboo. That was her sin.

To be fair, she also gave the Dear Leader a good kicking about several other pertinent topics. But without doubt, Gordon Browns vilification and dismissal of Gillian Duffy was triggered by her mentioning the Great Taboo.

So what did she say?

This link offers the full transcript.

The words that propelled this otherwise straightforward, compassionate and dare I say,"normal" person to Bigot status were these:

"You can't say anything about the immigrants because you're saying that you're... but all these eastern Europeans what are coming in, where are they flocking from?"

That is it. That is all. No more.

The Great Taboo was mentioned.

Suddenly Gillian Duffy is a bigot, racist, Nazi or whatever.

The Dear Leader, in response, huffily announced that 1 million Brits have gone to Europe which, in his rather bizarre world, somehow compensates for the several million immigrants (some legal, some not) who have deluged our shores.

These are his words in reply:

"A million people have come from Europe but a million British people have gone into Europe. You do know that there's a lot of British people staying in Europe as well."

Dare I suggest that most of the Brits staying in Europe are retirees or in high demand jobs. Essentially they are fleeing our ravaged little England and seeking sanctuary across the water.

The million(s) coming in are at best (like the Poles) looking for work and contributing through taxes. Although it can only be unhealthy for both England and Poland to have such a large number of workers dislocated from their own country. Like it or not, it does also mean less work for the locals.

Then at worst, there are the parasitic and narrow minded who actively despise our culture, while forever extending out their hand and demanding more.

So there you have it. The Great Taboo.

So perhaps we should say to Gillian Duffy:
How dare you?
How dare you question the unmentionable?
How dare you bring up the topic the cognoscenti wish to hide and obscure?

Perhaps she should be warned that her words were bordering on a hate crime.
Maybe she should be questioned, examined, watched.

Just in case.

Obama, NASA and the Slippery Slope.

Normally this blog is English centric, but Obama's cuts to the US space programme have prompted me to worry about where they, and we, are all heading.

America (like us) is broke and needs to cut back. As a result, large sections of the space program have been axed. It must be remembered that NASA is one of the main driving forces behind American technical innovation.

Obama and the Americans need to tread very carefully. They are on the edge of a very slippery slope that eventually leads to the purgatory of technical dependency.

Going down the slope is easy. Getting back up it again is murderously hard. Even just stopping the descent is awesomely difficult. Just look at us in the UK.

We have all got in this position because of the overblown banking sector. The banks should be a support player to industry. Today they have become the tail that wags the dog.

It was encouraging to see Obama recently lay down the law to the US banks. But he needs to make sure that Wall Street stops selling out American industry. The traders and the various ruling elites around the world all worship at the feet of Globalisation and would sell their mothers (let alone their country) to turn a profit or maintain their position.

A bit of good old protectionism against unfair competition for some strategic American industries would really set the cat among the pigeons. Maybe then we could also protect some of ours. That is after we get rid of the arch globalisation fetishist, Gordon "The Abyss" Brown.

Export/Import should be there to fill in the gaps and add the extras. It should never be allowed to destroy native industries wholesale.

Unfettered and dogmatic Globalisation has wreaked havoc across the world and led to untold misery and suffering, both in the West and in developing countries.

Now is the time to reign it in.

Gordon Brown: Lots of Gas (and some salt)

Oh God.
Gordo is reassuring us that there is no threat to gas supplies. see BBC report here

If I were you I would pull-on that extra woolley jumper now before it is too late.

As I remember he also reassured us that we were “better placed” than any other country during the recent banking calamity.

Not that I would ever cast doubt on the brilliance and foresight of our marvellous tactician and mastermind but as I remember it: Were we not first into recession? And last out?.

So now “No threat to gas supplies” must mean “break out the camping gas stove”. But on the bright side you will finally get to put on that funny hat your auntie bought you 15 years ago.

But think of all the money that has been saved by not building those gas storage facilities engineers have been dripping on about for years. All that money! And now of course it has been wisely spent on “other things”.

The PM has not only promised that gas will not run out, but that road salt will “get to where it is most needed”.

As an old Neanderthal I should perhaps explain that your plebeian concept of “most needed” and that of our great magnifico are probably quite contrary to one another.

I would expect that marginal constituencies will be well catered for. If you live in a solid Tory seat though, I'd dig out the old ice skates.

This may mean that Billothewisp and associated Homo-Sapien hangers-on get some salt on their roads. After all Jim Knight, our local Labour Czar, must be getting rather anxious. The putrid and poor, living in the darkest recesses of the Purbecks may decide to dispense with his services in the near future.

A little rock salt can go a long way. Or so I am told.

Sadly though, for our beneficent and well fed leaders, Neanderthals are not wildly impressed with road salt even when scattered liberally on the frozen roads of England. Sadly the grit does nothing for the texture of roasted road-kill and even less for the complexion of British politics, especially when there isn't enough of the stuff to go round.

Slippery dangerous roads are one thing. But if the gas runs out then we really will be in trouble.