Interesting

OK, so on-line polls are about as reliable as a Cameron policy statement, but it's still interesting to note that most respondents rejected the concept of anthropogenic Gerbil Warning. After all, the word 'propaganda' doesn't quite capture the fanaticism with which the MSM has pushed the theory of AGW, yet still nearly three in four people aren't buying it.

Of course, in so far as these folks are on-line, they're the people least likely to be vulnerable to the MSM. All of which is by way of saying that this is further proof that Liberals can only succeed through lying or force. They can achieve a certain degree of success through using the MSM to drown out their opponents, but once people have a chance to read both sides of the argument, Liberals are sunk.

We're All Guilty

Laban detects an agenda at work in Keele Uni's unjustifiably well-received 'Everyone's a scumbag' report. Me, I'm wondering where the nuance! went. After all, these folks can explain at great length why it's unfair to call people 'murderers' just because they axe an old lady to death, but now they say there's no useful distinction to be made between taking a pen home and knocking over a Securicor van ? Ah yes!

The central humbuggery of the report is that it exemplifies the very trend it claims to deplore. If we're all criminals, then the word has no meaning - which is what these people believe anyway. Liberals have fought long and hard to drive any consideration of morality out of the law. Good and evil ? Who needs it ? The trouble is once you take the morality out, you're left with the law as the arbitrary whims of the state. Just how much respect can it command in those circumstances ?

Liberals Smart, Conservatives Stoopid, Scientists Bent

Well, it's been a couple of weeks since scientists last proved that Libs are the Master Race, so I guess we're due this.









I thought I'd leave that gap to allow you time to wrap your head round the claim that Liberals lose votes because they're just too rational. OK, Libs you win: you're just too logical in your arguments. How about going for the jugular, no more logic, just 87 000 cartoons of Blair as a poodle, insane conspiracy theories about July 7 and blaming any unusual weather event at all on Gerbil Worming. That ought to do it. But wait.....

As Ace points out, the study's own logic doesn't stand up (ironically enough). But there's more to it than that. Academics want to pimp out science for political advantage, while still claiming we should treat them as disinterested seekers after truth. Can we have some kind of grading scheme here ? Maybe different coloured stars for different grades of paper ? Hard science papers with falsifiable hypothesis, lots of objective data and sensible conclusions would get a gold star, while rubbish like this would get a red one. Either way, can these freaks stop claiming to be shocked - shocked! - that scientists get less respect than used car salesmen. Hey, at least they're meant to be selling us junk.

Extreme Humbuggery

Thinking about that last post, what really grates is that the B*C keeps issuing these pious warnings about sinister 'extremists' out there, no matter how many times we hear of cases like today's or this one. It's like hearing David Cameron criticise the media for being superficial.

Huge Big Story ?

Looks like Al-BBC is cutting out the middle man.

We're All Wikipedia Now

Include me out of the Rushdie triumphalism. Steyn is exactly right here. Yay for giving Rushdie a knighthood - no matter how personally undeserving he may be - but the past twenty years has seen Islamofascism metastasise into so many areas of public life that by comparison the 'Satanic Verses' affair seems quaint and absurd.

It's great that nearly two decades after the Islamopaths targeted one of their own pin-ups, the chattering classes have roused themselves to make a purely symbolic response, but while that was all going on, we had the bizarre conclusion to Mohammed Sarwar's political career. Apparently, he's been receiving death threats from the Islamofascist loonies who murdered Kris Donald, and he's stepping down as an MP, except these two things aren't related, in fact - gosh, darn it - he doesn't even know why he mentioned the threats, after all. Ah yes.

Well, whatever, but if the Rushdie affair proved one thing, it's that symbolism matters. It was never about literary criticism, it was about the Mullahs demonstrating that they could parade round British streets calling for the murder of British citizens and PC Plod would busy himself arresting any folks who objected. Fast forward two decades and we have Islamofascist killers threatening a sitting MP with apparent impunity, even after being proven beyond reasonable doubt to be involved in the torture-murder of an Infidel.

At this point let me just say that I'm sceptical about the classification of Mohammed Sarwar as a moderate, but let's just go with that for now: here's a (literal) representative of those 'peace-loving Muslims' being intimidated by the Tiny Minority of Extremists but the MSM and the Left (oh wait...) think it's a yawner.

Why even bother defending freedom of speech if we're going to give the Islamofascists a 9mm veto over the elections anyway ? Equally, if a sitting MP can be targeted, what hope is there for any less high-profile 'moderates' ? And if the Left truly believes that most Muslims are peaceful, shouldn't they be wanting to protect them from these 'extremists' ?

Apparently, Liberals don't believe that either. Meanwhile, the MSM is a hotbed of debate over the propriety of publishing rubbishy novels with surreal depictions of Murderin' Mo even while they skate over the Mullah's new role as auxiliary returning officers. But Rushdie got knighted - that's all you need to know.

Nice Party You Got Here

The Cameroonies might be right about class not being an issue in politics - certainly, these guys could hardly be any less classy. As ever, the fish rots from the head. The Cameroonatics might not have got round to any actual policies, but they have a fine line in defaming the British Right. So let's have no talk about how this guy can't be held responsible for the appalling behaviour of his acolytes. They're merely following in his footsteps.

There's a more profound factor at work here than merely the vile rhetoric of the Cameroonatics. About the only consistent themes of Cameroonacy are an obsession with 'electability' - whatever that actually means - and a belief that expressing a snarling contempt for traditional morality is the way to achieve it. Against this background, is it any surprise these people regard the death of a political opponent as a reason for celebration ? Who cares about this whole Second World War thing anyway ? It just doesn't poll well. Nope, these people aren't an aberration, they're the logical end point of Cameroonacy.

[But at least they kept it out of the papers!]

Best Story Evah!

Via Hot Air, it's Britain's latest sit-com. The script practically writes itself, plus check out paragraphs two and three for further evidence of the deleterious effects of Islam on IQ.

UPDATE:

Never trust a socialist! The Mirror's story appears to be somewhat erratic, so just in case here's the opening graphs:

HATE preacher Abu Hamza has refused any more treatment from his prison nurse after finding out the man is gay.

The nurse, nickname Queenie, has been helping to wash and dress the convicted terrorist for more than two years.

A prison source told the Mirror the full-time staffer is openly gay and has a camp voice.

Officers at Belmarsh jail are said to be surprised Hamza, 48, has not noticed before.

Now the cleric is claiming it is against his religion and human rights to be treated by a homosexual. The source said Hamza's solicitor wrote to the governor demanding his client is given a new regular nurse.

The prison service refused saying it does not discriminate on grounds of sexuality.

The source said: "The nurse is upset about it. He has spent the last couple of years doing everything for Hamza, even wiping his bottom.

Liberals In Hell

One of the Left's favourite countries in all the world has a problem with illegal immigrants. What to do ? It's enough to make a Leftist's head explode. Until they decide what line to take, enjoy the rare sight of an MSM outlet reporting truthfully on immigration. Sample lines:

Social tensions are ratcheting up in both nations, as Zimbabwe’s adult population dwindles and South Africans, already burdened by high unemployment, face new competition for jobs and housing....

“There’s a lot of competition” with South Africans “for other resources like housing in informal settlements, access to limited primary health care and education,” said Chris Maroleng, an expert on Zimbabwe at the Institute for Security Studies, a research organization in Pretoria.....

A rising number [of Zimbabweans] claim to be refugees from persecution by President Robert G. Mugabe’s police and by supporters of his ruling party, the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front. Just six Zimbabweans sought political asylum in South Africa in 2001; last year, the total was nearly 19,000, more than a third of all asylum applications in South Africa.

But most are fleeing privation, not persecution.

Really, if you included lines like that in an article on immigration into the UK, Liberals would demand the death sentence for hate speech.

UPDATE:

Seems like a common problem. In the comments Max points out this story. I bet Amnesia Intentional will be on it any time now.

Today's Steynism

Those ignorant grunting knuckle-dragging English masses (I’m adopting the Chertovian approach) understood something that the experts either miss or glide smoothly over - that there is something wrong and reductionist in seeing human beings only as economic entities. Fine, we need bus drivers, or auto workers, or seasonal fruit pickers, or whatever it is. But, if the price of a cheap pool of bus drivers is the transformation of Yorkshire into something that would be unrecognizable to any Yorkshireman of the mid-20th century then the smart set should at least be smart enough to address the larger cultural questions.

The Descent Into Madness

Saw this warning on the cinema listings: (contains infrequent moderate boxing violence). And the film ? Rocky Balboa, of course.

Outrage D'Jour

Don't worry! They've been coached in how to spend it wisely.

The Left Keeps It Unreal

Hmmmm.... this week the MSM has been full of Libs talking about how educational success requires self-discipline from the students, support from the families and help from professional teachers, so naturally that raised my suspicions. It's a good rule of thumb that when Liberals start talking sense, that means they're trying to bury a body.

Ah yes.

For forty years we've been told that low achievement by the black communidee is down to racism, yet when - in a shocking yet utterly predictable twist - it turns out that it's the natives who are doing worst, that's because they're STOOPID.

Really - acres of newsprint have been devoted to Liberals claiming that you try to give those people a fair crack of whip, and all you get is grief. Meanwhile, the Left will still got to any lengths rather than admit that there may be a connection between educational failure and a culture that celebrates violent insanity as proof of authenticity.

UPDATE:

But what chance of a 'white-friendly' syllabus ?

Bankers

How can you tell when welfarism has gone out of control ? When this happens.

"When I Grow Up I Want To Be A Race-Hustling Bum"

I've finally worked out what's so weird about black communidee leaders ostentatious hand-wringing over violent crime. It's not just their own dubious relationship with violence, or even that they're the only Libs allowed to mention the F-word (the other one) in relation to family disintegration. Nope, it's the sight of a wagon load of prominent blacks, most of whom - in some way or other - are sucking on the taxpayers teat, lamenting the fact there's a shortage of positive black role models.

Well, you said it, homies!

Outrage D'Jour

....but the perfect rebuttal from the great Allahpundit.

Do They Have An Entry For Self-Parody ?

In a bizarre Liberal version of the song about the old woman who swallowed a fly, they've now deleted not only Charlene Downes Wikipedia entry, but even the discussion about deleting it . The message about deleting the discussion is still there, but it can only be a matter of time (fortunately, the Happy Rampager has posted the key parts in the comments to the original post).

Incidentally, the discussion about the deletion was removed, so they say, at the request of the family. Ah yes - what most bereaved families want most of all is their loved ones given the Unperson treatment. Well, either that or Liberals are liars as well as frauds.

Also deleted, funnily enough, entries for Gavin Hopley, Mary Ann Leneghan and Richard Whelan. Hmmmm... must be something that links these cases, but what can it be ? Let's see if there are any clues in the - still extant - 'deletion discussions'. First, Gavin Hopley:

the individual concerned is not notable....Deiz talk 10:20, 4 June 2007

Tis is a news story masquerading as a biography, with the clear intent of promoting a racist political party's agenda. Guy (Help!) 20:00, 2 June 2007 (UTC)

Delete The very fact that it has been ignored by the national media shows it isn't suitable for inclusion. Wikipedia is not for righting perceived wrongs, or a soapbox for the BNP. One Night In Hackney303 19:19, 3 June 2007 (UTC)

Then there's Mary Ann Leneghan:

Another one. Poor child was raped and murdered - do we need to record it. Newsworthy, yes. Encyclopedic, no. We have too many of these British child muder victims - and many seem to be chosen for their possible racial dynamic. I don't want to imply anything, but.... -Docg 14:09, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

# Ugh delete this, it appears to be motivated primarily by a political agenda. Guy (Help!) 14:15, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

# Kill this article. Appearing in the papers doesn not make an incident worthy of inclusion in an encyclopedia. Unless the crime is particularly notorious, or has a long-lasting effect such as leading to the creation of a new law, it does not belong in wikipedia Lurker 15:18, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

# Delete Non notable crime. One Night In Hackney303 15:32, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

What about Richard Whelan ?

Another murder victim. Newsworthy - yes. Encyclopedic - no. We seem to have had quite a lot of these all seeming to highlight alleged evidence of race-crime in the Britain. Please delete this per the others. -Docg 10:19, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

Delete WP:NOT a memorial or a newspaper, this is a news story not a biography. Guy (Help!) 11:56, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

Delete per Guy, we really don't want articles on every single crime, leave that for WikiNews. One Night In Hackney303 15:33, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

So, let's check the scorecard here: these cases are completely unremarkable, except that they're also the centre of a dark campaign by the Far-Right, the Ultra-Right or, quite possibly, the Dude!-We're-Totally-Right. Meanwhile, over the space of five days, a whole bunch of totally unconnected individuals posted the same two, contradictory, points - and that's without considering the number of them who turn up twice. There might be an agenda being pushed here, but it's not coming from the right.

Vibrant!

This is what we need more of in this country! Of course, it is technically true that blowing themselves up on the No 57 is a job the British just won't do.

Silence of the Liberals

It might have passed you by, in between the opening of the Stephen Lawrence Memorial Toilet and the endowment of the Anthony Walker Chair in White Guilt, but the Left has apparently decided on a new policy on racial violence: don't mention it.

Funnily enough, this change in policy has come through just as the courts are dealing with another hate crime. Charlene Downes was, allegedly anyway, abducted, sexually assaulted, murdered then chopped into pieces and sold in a fastfood takeaway, but the Left thinks the whole case is a bit of a snoozer. Sure, cannibalism is pretty wack, but hey, it's hardly Hollywood material is it ?

Consider exhibit A: the Wikipedia entry on Charlene Downes. Or rather don't - it's been deleted by the Libs. The excuses given are priceless:

The murder case is not terribly notable; the victim is not notable (or encyclopaedic) at all.

Unlike Sir Anthony Walker VC MD, who needless to say, is covered.

nothing paticuarly notable - unless there was an uproar over the girl getting served in food.

Well, quite. Perhaps sensing that claiming that the case wasn't notable, providing you ignored all the notable bits, wasn't necessarily a wining argument, the Leftards switched to Plan B: it's all about the dark forces.

People are murdered every day, other than the soapboxing by a far right party which doesn't prove notability. there's no evidence of the significance of this one

Well, OK, we'll take that at face value. No one except a far out right-wing nutcase could possibly object to the rape, murder and cannibalism of a young girl. In related news, Liberals are amoral scum.

This article and the others in the series, all written in order to promote a BNP campaign and to advance racial hatred, should (I nearly said will) be deleted

That sound you can hear is the cat being let out of the bag: never mind the actual 'facts', the case is kind of inconvenient for the Liberal world-view, so away it goes.

At risk of stating the obvious, encyclopaedia are supposed to be, well, encyclopaedic. As I've said above, Anthony Walker is, quite rightly, covered - ironically enough including a quote by Labour MP Edward O'Hara that Walker's killing was "random, exceptional and representative of absolutely nothing". Also covered is this case. Then again, so are vital issues such as this and this. Why not ? It's an encyclopaedia, just don't use it to try and find out about the wrong facts, or Liberals will accuse you of being a Nazi.

Scientists Baffled By Lack Of Public Trust

Don't be shocked, but the geeks have produced yet another piece of research which proves the supremacy of Liberalism....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

No, wait! this time it's real, people really do enjoy paying taxes. It's science!

Actually, even the science doesn't stand up. Consider, for example, that the sample used consisted entirely of female university students (they've heard of this 'representative sample' thing, but they think it'll all blow over). But, then again, does it ever stand up ?

Hey, maybe there are good reasons why the average faculty has the political diversity of the KGB, but can these people stop pretending to be shocked - shocked! - that people don't take their hackery at face value ?

Dhimmis D'Jour

Apparently, spinelessness isn't just for Protestants any more.

The One Law Liberals Always Pass

Now, this is just too beautiful for words!

Great Moments In Liberal Strategy

The Student Grants at Time Out have (rightly!) been given a lot of stick over their 'I for one welcome our new Islamic overlords' article (best of all here), but I think it serves a useful social purpose as the perfect barometer of the sheer corruption of the Left.

After all those years of Libs raging against those repressive squares on the Right, it turns out that oppression is no big thing for the Left, after all. What we always suspected turns out to be true: the whole 'human rights' thing is a Liberal fraud.

OK, so the Left's alliance with the Islamofascists is old news, but it seems to me that the authors have made a more profound mistake. They lay out a vision of a radically different Britain under Islam. True, it's a vision of a land with 'flowery meadows and rainbow skies and, and rivers made of chocolate where the children danced and laughed and played with gumdrop smiles.' but in doing so they concede an important point.

This isn't about 'religious freedom'. You can believe the world was made by giant elephants if you want. Islam is an ideology with religious elements, not the other way round. If Liberals want to wax lyrical about the new Golden Age of Britanistan, then they can shove their whining about 'Islamophobia' when the rest of us point out the dark side of Islamic ideology.

Quick! Someone Call A Wahambulance!

Boring and geeky as blogging may be, blogging about blogging is far worse. Still, I've got to say that the Blogpower awards provided a rich vein of comedy - or at least the girly hysteria on display did.

What it was all about was that some of the nominated bloggers may have had - and you may want to sit down for this - links with the BNP! Not only that, some of the people voting for them may have been BNP members!!!

See ? The Guardian was right, it's 1938 all over again. Today on-line polls, tomorrow the world. Predictably, the richest source of hysteria was Blu Labour's clone army. Not to give aid and comfort to the enemy, but seriously folks, this hysterical desire to denounce sinister Nazi plots just makes it look like you've got a guilty conscience, as though you implicitly accept the Liberal libel that Auschwitz is just what you get when Conservatives get free reign.

Personally, I'm still a little mystified. How can I put this ? Mein Kampf - it's not a good book. To put it another way, if arguments are based on deranged fascist ideology, then they should be easy to tear apart. Yet the lynch mob seems remarkably reluctant to actually deal with the substance of what their opponents produce.

Nope, it's the mere fact that they are writing in the first place, reporting uncomfortable facts and raising difficult questions. Apparently, the hysterics think you're only a proper blogger if you confine yourself to the vapid, nicey-nicey, big end/little end debates of the mainstream parties. Never mind 'cheating' in polls, that's a worldview that's truly offensive to the spirit of the blogosphere.

UPDATE:

As has been pointed out, the link just takes you to the main Blogpower page - I don't think there's a single post where any of these folks actually made their charge explicit, but there is a lovely bunch of sour grapes on show in the comments here.

UPDATE II:

Just to clarify, I'm not sniping at James himself, who only wanted to run some awards, not get caught up in a blogwar. Nope, it's the folks who kept yammering in his ear about dark conspiracies who tee me off.

Today's Steynism

It's a special 'draw your own parallels' edition:

President Bush has, broadly speaking, governed as he said he would seven years ago. Unfortunately, a big bunch of sophisticated types in the Republican base told themselves, "Hey, don't worry. This 'compassionate conservative' mumbo-jumbo is just a cunning feint to sucker the media and the swing voters." Au contraire, he meant it.

There's a lesson there for Republicans.

Why The Culture War Matters

Don't be shocked, but Civitas claims that the school curriculum is infected with PC blather. Oh, and don't be shocked either by the B*C missing out the most extreme example:

Teenagers studying for GCSEs are being asked to write about the September 11 atrocities using Arab media reports and speeches from Osama bin Laden as sources without balancing material from America, it reveals.

Well, the BBC is rubbish and the educrats are a bunch of moonbats. Same ol' same ol'. Except there's something even worse in play here. The Left is not only using schools to push political garbage, they're using them to push garbage in general.

Take this report over at Mr Chalk's place. Subjects aren't being taught with a Liberal slant, they aren't being taught at all. It's all rubbish.

The point is that as soon as you accept that all knowledge is subjective, that there are no facts, only 'competing narratives', then that concentrates enormous power in the hands of whoever gets to referee the competition. After all, with no objective truths, who's to say we haven't always been at war with Eastasia ?

Not Ready For Prime Time

OK, so it's three weeks since I last mentioned you-know-who, but he's come up with another pearler today.

Hello ? Sure, some will say this sort of thing is par for the course for blogging, but this is a guy who wants to be one of the 646 people who decide little things like whether we go to war or not (and, lest we forget, he's a member of Call Me Dave's super elite Tory A-List). Has he really thought about what he's saying ? Does he seriously believe that MI-5 has a secret office full of folks who spend their time hacking the websites of deranged moonbat media whores ? Or is he just pandering to the lunatic fringe ?

In other words, the question is whether Dale is stupid, deranged or completely amoral ? Whatever the answer is, it hardly suggests a party that can be trusted with the defence of the realm when one of its supposed elite candidates for office publishes unhinged conspiracy theories about the very people the Tories will need to work with to protect Britain from terrorism.

The Fundemental Human Right To Double-Entry Bookkeeping

As I understand it, Liberals don't believe we can impose Western-style democracy in the Middle East, but now they want us to go to war to impose our accountancy standards. Yes, for the past two weeks you haven't been able to turn on the BBC without hearing them breathlessly report on the Greatest Crime Evah!

Not to say that BAE didn't behave badly, paying bribes to a Saudi offical. They should have waited to he retired then put him on the board as Special Director for Middle East Operations. It's not like you need to hire a camel to find fraud going on. Then there's the flip side of it all. It's not only that the BBC would rather run a four-hour long tribute to Lady Thatcher than report on corruption in, say, the EU or the production of government statistics, it's that the BBC has spent years sneering at the Neo-Con idea of remaking the Arab world along less stupid lines. Now, we have a company that's gone the other way, that's worked within the prevailing culture to produce a mutually-beneficial result, and suddenly they should have channeled General Napier ?

On second thoughts, maybe the Left has a point. We need to make things right. Clearly, the government should track down every one who benefited from the deal and make them pay the money back. They can't be more than a few tens of thousands right ?

More Fun With The B*C

One cheer for the BBC for calling this an honour killing but - wouldcha' believe it - you have to turn to Reuters for the vital missing bit:

Her family decided to kill her because they believed the relationship had shamed them as Suleimani was an Iranian Kurd and not a strict Muslim

Hey, all media organisations miss bits every now and again, but with the B*C, it's always the same bits.

Non-Insane Celeb Found

And you will never guess who.

What a dilemma for the Left! A designated victim going off-message. I'm guessing we'll soon be hearing about how he's not authentically gay.

Who Said The Left Isn't Concerned About The Forces ?

So, run this by me again. For the past six years, British forces in Afghanistan have been fighting people who believe women shouldn't work, be educated or even leave the house without a male relative accompanying them, with nary a word from the femiloons. But suddenly they've found something that really offends them: naughty noseart. Yep, the RAF has been ordered to paint out any risque images on the front of their aircraft. See ? That's how sofisticayted Liberals are: they've found a way to invent a kinder, gentler kind of bombing.

As I Was Saying...

Further evidence of what Liberals really think about crime: Jim Gamble, of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, thinks that the whole 'padeophillia' thing is overblown.

Jim Gamble, of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP), said some offenders who viewed child porn could be given a police caution.

He believes treatment in the community is a practical way of dealing with the huge scale of the problem.

Can you imagine this in any other context ? 'Practical'. Not 'effective', 'just' or 'safe', just 'practical'. Hey, when the 'End World Poverty Now!' side of the spectrum starts talking about practicality, grab grandma and the kids and head for the hills: rancid ideas are on the way.

He suggested that to deal with the scale of the problem, some offenders should receive a police caution and then be managed within the community.

See ? We might have perverts walking the streets, but at least they're managed perverts. When are Liberals going to start managing tax evaders, smokers or people who put the wrong thing in the recycling bin ?

We shouldn't be sending everyone that ever commits an offence - particularly of the viewing kind - to prison.

There are people who have been dealt with by police caution who can be dealt with successfully in a way that allows them to maintain their lives and their families.

Yep, you did read that right: Jimbo is arguing that our policy on predators should be driven by the need to cause them minimal disruption. There you have the pathology of Liberalism better than Shakespeare could sum it up.

But just in case you think the Left are a bunch of amoral scum, Jimbo qualifies his position thus:

Mr Gamble said he was not referring to paedophiles who committed violent offences like the rape of a child....

Yes, he takes a hard line on people who rape children. Just as a rule of thumb, I'd say that if members of a movement need to spell out their opposition to child rape, that raises serious questions about the underlying ideology. Of course, if you only pay money to a guy who rapes children so you can see the videos he makes of him violating children, well, y'know, who cares ?

Seriously, can Jimbo or anyone on the Left point to a single other area of law where there exists a distinction between those who commit criminal acts and those who merely pay other people to perform them ? I doubt it, but don't worry, the rest of the sentance is even more obnoxious:

.....but he insisted that some offenders "at the beginning of the spread of abuse may benefit from a police caution and can be managed

Well, y'know, as long as the perverts can benefit, that's the main thing. At this point, I would remind you that Jimbo's title is head of the 'Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre '. With protectors like these, who needs predators ?

Today's Steynism

Another interesting observation about Liberal policies:

There is a grotesque narcissism in the determination of the Save Darfur campaign to embrace every strategy except the one that would actually save Darfur while there's anyone still left to save. The reality seems to be that these groups prefer to go the ineffectual dance-troupe route because it makes them - the "community of compassion" - the focus of things.

It's An Expensive, Ugly Mess

Seems like perfect symbolism to me.

Honest Liberal Sighted

I think it's fair to say that Liberal deep thinker Richard Garside's comments weren't universally welcomed. But let's give him some credit. In amongst all the usual drivel, we do get one moment of clarity:

Yet whether it is domestic violence or child abuse, middle class fiddles or corporate corruption, sexual abuse or the abuse of power, most crime never features in the official crime rate.

That's it, that's the central driver of Liberal policy on crime - and much else. True, they occasionally hide their true beliefs through misdirection, like claiming to support probation instead of prison because they think it's more effective, or they'll claim criminals are innocent victims of their environment, or that crime is an invention of the tabloids, or that.... Forget it, it all comes down to this: Liberals don't believe in the whole concept of 'crime'. After all, law is supposed to be the codification of the common morality, but morality and common culture are two concepts guaranteed to get Liberals channelling their inner Prescott. No, to the Left, traditional laws are just some arbitrary set of rules, used by The Man to keep the proletariat down. Once you bear this in mind, Liberal policies make perfect sense.

Conscientious Objectors in the Culture War

Good news: VC winner Tul Bahadur Pun can come to Britain, after all. Actually, scratch that - it's not good news. Good news would have been not getting into this situation in the first place. It's sickening that there was ever any doubt about it.

But anyway, we've won and the Left has skulked off like a bunch of, well, Liberals. The only thing is this: I can't help feeling there's something missing, some element absent. Ah yes - while the Right was rightfully enraged by this case, Britain's soi dissant premier party of the right was, metaphorically speaking, downing pink gins back in Bombay. Doubtless, Rifleman Pun's heroism wasn't nuanced enough for Call Me Dave's bright young things. Besides, there's that nasty testosterone allergy to consider. Yet still the Right won. Hmmmm....

It's a paradox of British political life that the elite of the Left, the cult of centralisation and conformity, dedicate a lot of their time to pandering to the grass roots, while the top brass of the Right, the trust the people side of the spectrum, treat their own supporters like a bunch of ignorant morons. There's the corollary to that too in the way the Tories wall themselves up in the Westminister Village, while the Left is out in the country actually advocating for their agenda. All of which is by way of saying that Liberals will go to war over the history curriculum for primary school kids while Call Me Dave can't go a week without defaming his own party's members.

But here's the thing: it doesn't matter. For all that Letwin et al might talk about switching the Tories focus from economics to social issues, they've been overtaken by events. They're already irrelevant on social issues. The Tory Party left Rifleman Pun high and dry, but the Right rescued him. Or, to put it another, whether Call Me Dave likes it or not, there really is a Tory grass roots movement coming into existence.

Cameron's strategy is predicated on the idea that the super-brains at Tory HQ need to decouple themselves from those looney toon right-roots, but I'm thinking he's just got it the wrong way round. If agonising about tax rates is your thing, then maybe there's still a reason for you to vote Tory, but when it comes to the culture war, all the action is anywhere but the Tory Party. Au contraire, in so far as Cameron's tenure as Tory leader has been marked by a series of capitulations on social issues, the Tories are now to the Left of large chunks of the Labour Party. All of which just rams the point home. For all that Liberals pretend to stand up for the guy in the street, the real diagnostic characteristic of these people is contempt for the public, whether it's in the form of Old Labour's union thugs, the sleazy lawyers of Nu Lab or Blu labour's Eton Rifles. The good news is that it doesn't matter. Just as the Left cultural agenda first made inroads into British life during the Thatcher years, so even in these days of Liberal consensus, the right can still fight the culture war succesfully. At the end of the day, what kind of cause is it that actually needs David Cameron's support ?

Foreign Yet Familiar

OK, so maybe you're not watching every twist and turn of the US amnesty for illegals debacle, but listen to Laura Ingraham unload on President Bush here and tell me you don't see echoes of something closer to home.