I SOMETIMES WONDER IF AMERICA REALLY EXISTS.

Presidential hopeful and possible Republican Party nominee Newt Gingrich came away with an answer to a criticism which deserves to take its place in history. Two things to consider here 1/ the calibre of the candidate who said this and who was being serious and 2/ The calibre of the electorate whom he thought would buy it and may still do so. I can think of no other political party in the world where this answer would not have ended the candidate's career forever, here we go.

Journalist at press conference - "Mr. Gingrich how do you explain having affairs behind your wife's back when you fought to impeach President Clinton for the same thing, and at the same time?"

Gingrich – " I had affairs because I love America so much that my love for my country led me to work to hard which led me to have these affairs"

Well, 'whatcha think folks is he a good ole murkin boy' who is a real tea party patriot or is America just the world's biggest f*****g asylum? You decide. While you're thinking about that you might want to consider that this potential President of the most powerful country in the history of planet Earth in his earlier life became so overcome with love and patriotism for his beloved America that he abandoned his first wife for a younger model when she had M.S. And yet again struck by a bout of severe heart pounding patriotism served divorce papers on his second wife when she was in hospital recovering from cancer.

American patriots – Think Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Armstrong Gabby Hayes, Newt Gingrich, Batman. Vote Gingrich he is the guy! A possible new President, a possible brand new shining way oh, and he continues to burnish his right wing Christian credentials by calling down hell fire and damnation on gays, dammit it's the Murkin way.

• 
  

FIDEL LOOKS AT THE G.O.P.

Fidel Castro showing that he is still pretty sharp.

Commenting on the Republican Party's race to find a presidential candidate to stand against President Obama, El Commandante Castro described it as 'the greatest competition of idiocy and ignorance that has ever been'

WILLIAM TOPAZ MCGONNAGLE – YOU ARE FORGIVEN.

My Heart's in the Highlands (R Burns)

My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here,

My heart's in the Highlands, a-chasing the deer;

Chasing the wild-deer, and following the roe,

My heart's in the Highlands, wherever I go.

Farewell to the Highlands, farewell to the North,

The birth-place of Valour, the country of Worth ;

Wherever I wander, wherever I rove,

The hills of the Highlands for ever I love.

Farewell to the mountains, high-cover'd with snow,

Farewell to the straths and green vallies below;

Farewell to the forests and wild-hanging woods,

Farewell to the torrents and loud-pouring floods.

My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here,

My heart's in the Highlands, a-chasing the deer;

Chasing the wild-deer, and following the roe,

My heart's in the Highlands, wherever I go.

Let me say up front that I have read Burns since I was a reluctant schoolboy and I tried hard to appreciate it, you had to in St. Mirin's Academy or you got the "bruises on you" I like one or two Burns things to this day but it is fair to say that if he was relying on sales to me to survive he would starve. The bottom line was of course that we were being forced to learn poetry in a foreign language, it might as well have been Spanish or German and no doubt better for our futures if it had been. The fact that he (Burns) was a famous mason did not sit well with the parents of many boys and indeed many teachers who shared our backgrounds, this was Scotland in the late 50's earl 60's need I say more "A bloody wee knuckle cruncher, check you've still got yer watch when ye shake haunds wae him, he couldnae write F**k on a dusty blind" was the considered verdict of our Da. the old man had a way with words himself now that I think of it. Burns, the Monarchy, Churchill, The Tories, The British Army (whom he served) the B******s in the establishment and various other people and things which roused his ancient Irish temper were all grist for his mill when that temper got going, we boys used to hide behind the couch clinging to each other tightly trying not to laugh when he went off on one, risky but side-splitting.

The above lines of poetry are what we call today doggerel, described in the dictionary as "badly written verse" the dictionary description is in fact too mild for this, it is absolute crap, 'the cat sat on the mat, and then it sat on a hat' is obviously superior and has much more gravitas. The reason of course that it escapes accurate examination is that it is by Burns, Scotland's National Poet and best known cottage industry, mugs, tea towels, calendars etc. and ridiculously expensive trinkets are sold to tourists as well as many Scots. visiting the old country who feign an interest in Burns to burnish their Scottish credentials, business is business right?

We are once again in the middle of the 2 week Burnsarama where he becomes inescapable and con artists squeeze every last bawbee out of it that they can. At the last count I have 4 selected editions of some of Burn's poetry handed out by newspapers annually to try to sell copy. Is anyone asking as I do why Burns remains a reserve league poet despite these annual attempts to sell him as a major artist? The answer is a harsh one to take, he is simply not good enough, he is not Shelley, Shakespeare or, Milton, nor is he Yeats, Wilde or Wordsworth and these are only from the British Isles.

I think that Scotland should re-examine it's literary past in an honest way and look at the other poets/writers Etc. none of whom get a fair deal because of the "Burns Industry"  a closer examination of the man would let people know the truth about him. His plagiarism, his unctuous grovelling to the upper classes in Edinburgh, his ambition to be a slave owner, his work for the Crown as an excise man acting against his own people, his loathing for hard work, a man of straw in fact but not unusual for his time. He did in fact write some memorable lines but so would anyone who wrote as much as he did.  The following true story which I have told before illustrates the damage that Burn's clubs and societies have done to Scottish literature. While feeding the swans and ducks at the Cart Walk a bus emblazoned with the legend "WALLACE TOURS" parked close to me and some Americans got off some chatted to me as I fed the birds and I asked where they were going and was told "Edinboro Castle, Bobby Burn's Cottage and to kiss the Blarney Stone, we just love Scatland" The bus company did not enlighten them, perhaps they were selling Blarney Stone Tea Towels.

Alas it's too late now and we are stuck with Burns whose glow will continue to rise and fall but mainly remain at a peep as far as international acclaim is concerned while true greats will see their flame blaze higher still and higher. I will leave the last word on Burns with MacDiarmid a far more profound and difficult poet but also far more rewarding "mair nonsense has been uttered in his name than in ony's  barrin' liberty and Christ" I will settle down with a copy of the great poets on Burn's night where Burns in fact has only two entries  "Tam o Shanter" and "A Man's a Man" if you must know. 
       

FROM THE BERNABEU TO ST. MIRREN PARK – THE LATTER LEFT A BETTER SMELL.

I prepared myself the other night no less diligently than the players who would take part in the Real Madrid V Barcelona match live from the 85 ½ thousand seater Bernabeu Stadium in the beautiful city of Madrid. I was of course only watching the match on TV but such is the occasion that it becomes a serious business to only spectate. As the kick off approached I had been to the toilet, prepared refreshments, double checked the time and spent some time thinking about Barca heroes like Cruyff; Maradona; Ronaldo; Figo and our own Steve Archibald who was gallus and unfazed enough to accept the No. 10 worn by the little genius Diego Maradona (maybe Steve didn't know who Maradona was) I am old enough to remember Madrid greats Gento, Di Stefano Del Sol and the mighty Hungaraian genius Ference Puskas an ex Army officer they called "The Galloping Major" our family cat was called 'Puskas' can there be a greater honour? I saw this Madrid line up live. The contrast with the match I watched previously the other night between Dunfermline and Inverness Caledonia Thistle was cruel and without pity, the Bernabeu is another world and the Scottish League is not to blame for that.

I have watched Barcelona over the last 4/5 years and seen them become the greatest club team in history even better than the Madrid of Di Stefano and Puskas that is of course only my opinion. I have watched them with delight and as often as possible and invariably seen them play Madrid often and these games have destroyed my youthful innocence. I believe that to be called a great football club or any other sporting institution requires more than winning trophies it requires the ability to meet with "triumph and disaster and treat these two impostors the same" to paraphrase Kipling, Sadly Real Madrid have failed badly at this test. Over these last couple of years these games have become toxic and brutal due to Real Madrid's inability to accept defeat by their greatest rivals who are clearly now superior to them by a long way. In these matches when Madrid look to be in trouble the atmosphere becomes poison and you can feel the hatred sweeping down from the stands at the Barca players.

The violence is awful and I believe that Madrid's power is still such that the authorities are afraid to tackle the problem. This game saw brutal tackling and one of the Madrid players 'Pepe' put on a display of viciousness rarely seen before; culminating in him stamping on the hand of Lionel Messi whom he had just kicked to the ground, he also threw himself around feigning injury at every opportunity, a revolting exhibition by a revolting cynic of a player. The players are not the ones responsible entirely for this state of affairs.

Prior to a couple of years ago I regarded Alex Ferguson as the worst thing that ever happened to football, his dubious achievement in turning Manchester United from one of the world's favourite teams in to one of the most hated is a sad tale of poisonous ambition. I sum him up as follows, there is nothing he will not do legally or illegally do to win a football match. One thing only can stop him, the question "can I get away with it" if the answer to that is yes he will not hesitate to do it.

Real Madrid Boss Jose Murhino is a match for Ferguson in every way, his smouldering malevolent presence on the touch line is a focus for violence and hatred. At one of these games last year he was caught on camera sneakily walking past one of the Barca coaches and deliberately poking him in the eye with his finger. These people are a blight on the 'Beautiful Game' Ferguson thankfully is drawing toward the end of a disgraceful career where the damage he has done to the game will take years to put right. Mourhino seems to be determined to make himself even worse than his sinister English League Teacher, the power that Madrid still have will probably help him achieve that. When the blood soaked fascist thug Franco ran Spain the poor guy who was to referee Real's game in Madrid was invited to dinner with the old brute (an offer he could not refuse) on the evening before the game, I wonder why? When I was a football mad kid Real Madrid lived in a dream world as did Man. Utd. I will never forgive them for destroying that dream.

Today the sun did not shine on St. Mirren Park; the wind howled like a banshee out of hell the rain fell like horizontal stair rods as St. Mirren and Celtic attempted to provide a game of football and incredibly enough provide it they did. It wasn't pretty, it rarely is in Scotland in January but both sets of players worked their socks off and displayed honest endeavour for the whole 90 minutes. Celtic won 2-0 with 2 very good goals and they also have their giant goalie Forster to thank for stopping St. Mirren from taking at least a point. It was a cleansing experience in more ways than one after watching the repellent display of one of the richest and most famous clubs in the world Real Madrid just the other night, well done Scottish Football.

HOW MUCH MORE EVIDENCE WILL IT TAKE BEFORE PEOPLE SEE SALMOND FOR THE CON MAN THAT HE IS.

(http://www.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/7568638/salmonds-dangerous-corporatism-exposed.thtml)

The above link was sent to me by a Mr. Duff who regularly assails me with criticism some of which makes sense only to him but he is sometimes funny; perhaps unintentionally though. Anyway the article highlights what I have been saying about Alex (the spiv) Salmond for years. He is a charlatan of the first order his dealings with Souter, Trump and the various hokey cokey farces with the churches and Muslims over Gay Marriage should have proved that by now but he continues to get away with treating his members like morons. Read the above link if any confirmation is needed and remember this quote when you listen to the great charlatan warning other parties to beware of the Tories whom he says "will suck you in and spit you out" (yesterday in Parliament) "we Scots. did not mind Mrs. Thatcher's economic policies so much; it was her economic policies we didn't like" (Alex the spiv Salmond)

FALLEN TREES-FLOODED ROADS-BIBLICAL STORMS- AND THE NHS STILL STANDING.

On January 2^Nd. at 7.30 pm I was taken in to hospital and kept for 5 days to have tests done and some remedial treatment carried out, I am now back home of course and feeling fine which is a bit confusing because despite feeling OK I am under strict medical orders to do nothing, my physical activity is to consist of a 5 minute walk each day for a week rising to 10 minutes and all the way up to 20 minutes after 3 weeks, my wife and daughters have said "so what's changed"

I was therefore inadvertently given a ring side seat at the NHS show which was very informative, had I been asked prior to my being admitted "do you know the NHS" I would have unhesitatingly said yes and; to an extent that is true if we are talking about its history and what it does as well as it's fame and achievements. I thought I knew what it was actually like at the sharp end where the patients are treated, in this case in the Acute Medical Unit where I was taken and it turns out I knew very little indeed.

The A.M.U. Is where you go when you arrive in an ambulance so there are people in various states of distress and some are very seriously ill, I was not in pain and was aware of my surroundings and quite lucid (unusual I hear some of you say even when I'm well) so there I was sitting up in bed watching a real live "Casualty episode" The atmosphere and tension in this place is highly charged and raw, it requires strong nerves just to sit up in bed and observe let alone work there. I found myself wrung out and exhausted just watching sometimes. On one occasion a guy 6 Feet across from me took a real bad turn and was set upon by 3 doctors plus nurses and auxiliaries for about an hour before they moved him to the Intensive Care Unit, I have no idea how he got on and I don't feel like asking just yet.

The people who work here are heroic I am 63 years old and I am an old cynic so I don't say such things lightly. They are mostly women and many of them look impossibly young to survive such a regime day after day, I was in that unit for 3 days and it rarely let up, day and night. My impression was one of admiration for what they do and sympathy for what they have to put up with to do their jobs, put quite simply even for a layman like me it's obvious they are understaffed and run off their feet, this applies to nurses, doctors, auxiliaries and porters etc. those I witnessed working in the A.M.U. are a formidable team and they pull for each other and support each other, I doubt they would survive otherwise.

During my stay I witnessed just how great an institution the NHS is, my time there coincided with the worst storms this country has seen for many years and my bed was next to the window on the ground floor. I was shaken from sleep one day by the unmistakeable sound of a very large Helicopter landing about 50 feet from me. I opened the curtain to realize I had a front row seat at a real life drama as the chopper swayed and dipped in the ferocious gales before it agonisingly touched down. It was immediately swarmed over by medics and porters with stretchers as they brought in the "incoming" from the accident which happened in Dunoon when caravans were swept away with people in them. Several choppers landed over the next few days as roads were closed and other hospitals were full. It was clearly a dangerous operation which was handled with courage and skill by all concerned and here is the best part, those people rescued were not charged a penny, if that is not an institution worth supporting then Mrs. Thatcher was right and "there is no such thing as Society" I moved eventually to the Coronary Care Ward although I was redirected there on my way to the Cardiac Ward which became full before I could reach my waiting bed, a busy, busy place. The Coronary care ward was very peaceful compared to the A.M.U. and the staff were great, it's almost worth being ill to witness the Auxiliary staff double act of Peter and Tony who look after and entertain the patients they are a hoot. The regime is a little less frantic here albeit while doing a very sensitive stressful job, being the youngest man of 6 in the ward was a rare novelty for me.

We need to cherish the NHS not cut its resources or sell it off; it is the jewel in the crown of the welfare state and we should all be proud of it and protect it.

And lastly, any of my political enemies who write to this blog offering me any sympathy will have their comments deleted.

FOX HUNTING, PHILIP'S TREATMENT - AND WEE JIMMY KRANKIE.

“The unspeakable in pursuit of the uneatable"(Oscar Wilde on Fox Hunting)
Oscar got it right, the hooray Henry’s are raising their ugly heads again about Fox Hunting. According to reports hunts have been out hunting foxes and ignoring the law safe in the knowledge that the other hooray Henry’s in the Tory Government will do nothing about their law breaking. A great many of these people would like to take us back to the days of hunting catching and killing terrified innocent animals, these are the people that the great Nye Bevan described as lower than vermin. If you teach your children that it is OK in fact it’s a legitimate sport to kill animals what do you expect them to grow up like? Take a look at the Tory Government and the great and powerful in this country and you will see what they are like. Vicious, cruel, greedy parasites who care only for themselves, I would prefer the company of the fox myself.

Is it now the case that when an elderly person has a suspected heart attack that they get air lifted 60 miles to a famous heart treatment hospital? If that’s true then we must be doing better than I thought. Or is this treatment only provided for someone who is regarded as a national treasure like the foul mouthed ignorant parasite Prince Philip. He once shot and killed a tiger which had been captured and tied up yards away from him, a base and cruel thing to do. To kill such a magnificent animal and to do so while it is tied up is the action of a poor excuse for a human being. He has spent his life living high on the hog and all for free and he insults people at will and is also known to be a racist and boor yet we let him and the rest of the royal gang away with it, when will we learn.

Went against my better judgement to see Robinson Crusoe starring John Barrowman and the Krankies and it was a fantastic show despite a script that read as if it had been co written by Benny Hill and Jim Davidson, lurid doesn’t begin to describe it but the performances were incredible. Barrowman is a big star and he is a great entertainer but the Krankies simply blew him away. Wee Jimmy Krankie in particular was born to play pantomime, he/she is a force of nature and very very funny. They had to stop sometimes to let the audience catch up they were laughing so hard at wee Jimmy‘s antics. The special effects were amazing particularly the 3D effects which were scary, honestly they were, oh yes they were! I understand that the same people are coming back next year and I would advise everyone to go see them but, be prepared to answer some awkward questions from your children when you get home about some of the dialogue.

THE FULL COUNCIL - CAROLS - THE SINGING PRIEST AND THE GREAT SILENCE FROM CLLR. MC CARTIN - A GENUINE FIRST.

19/12/11 to the full council where we were treated to a carol concert by kids from St. Charles’s primary school and a Christmas greeting by Father Oliver from St. Fergus’s church in my ward of Ferguslie park. He stunned everyone by getting them to join with him in singing “I wish it could be Christmas every day” in his deep lovely Irish brogue, no Herald angels or mangers here, a bit of a character is father Oliver and he can carry a tune as well.

Labour had a motion on the table designed to put to bed for good the daft and dangerous policy of cutting teaching time in our primary schools. This was the policy of the SNP/Libdem council, it was completely destroyed by parents, pupils and opposition councillors including us in the Labour Group in an unprecedented campaign which caused the SNP ’tae think again’ the Libdems are incapable of thought but they ran away as well.

Some SNP and Libdem councillors did not take kindly to such a humiliation by the electorate and either refused to comment at the time or in some cases still mumbled that the idea was still a good one. It is no surprise that Cllr. Eileen McCartin made it known that she still saw merit in the plan, not really a surprise from a woman who has never made a mistake or got anything wrong in her life. Here at this meeting we witnessed something different from the bellicose McCartin she actually said nothing! a rare event from a woman who will quite happily lecture anyone who will listen to her on brain surgery and rocket science. I tried to get her to repeat her insulting claim that she received approx. 100 letters/emails supporting the plan to cut primary school hours but the Provost came to her rescue and ruled me out of order, I will continue to ask her to do this, perhaps she could show us the emails and letters but I suspect she would claim to have binned them what do you think?

We also tried to get the SNP/Libdem cabal to give schools more money based on growing evidence that teachers are paying for materials from their own pockets, a scandal which has been going on for some time. The SNP led Council refused to do so and also refused to accept that teachers were in fact doing this, in fact they treated the teachers with the same contempt that they showed when they tried to reduce teaching time in our primary schools and when they got rid of some 300 teaching posts since they came to power, this is what we can expect under Nationalism.

They also overturned a motion to re regulate the buses proving if proof were needed that they prefer market forces and naked profit to providing services, we should call this “The Souter Doctrine” £500,000 buys an awful lot of SNP principles doesn’t it, as the great Groucho Marx once said “these are my principles, if you don’t like them I have another set you could try” That should be the SNP/Libdem slogan.

TO FREE CAPTIVES FROM PRISON TO RELEASE FROM THE DUNGEON THOSE WHO SIT IN DARKNESS - (ISIAH) THIS DOES NOT APPLY TO THE SNP.

As Oscar Wilde stood outside on his release from his sentence of hard labour at Reading Gaol he was a broken man physically as he stood in the torrential rain and driving wind his indomitable spirit prompted him to say “If this is how Her Majesty treats her prisoners, she doesn’t deserve to have any.” This applies equally today.

The latest outrage from the SNP Scottish Government is to abolish Prison Visiting Committees and replace them with an advocacy service. The advocacy service will visit once every 4/5 years and be responsible to the Scottish Prison Service while the Visiting Committee visits every week and is answerable to local authorities, or put another way they are not influenced by the prison authorities. The word to describe them in a rather ironic way for the SNP government is “independent”

The Government review stated that the committees played a crucial role in the welfare of prisons and were an asset but they are still getting the chop. Visiting Committees have been carrying out their duties for 120 years and I am proud to say that I spent approx. 6 years as a member of the service. It is a difficult job and can be depressing when you see the conditions that prisoners live in and the effect that prison has on them but I firmly believe that Prison Visitors do a vital job by shining a light on treatment of prisoners and their conditions which is bad in some cases and good in others, the SPS however would not agree with the former description which is one very good reason for keeping the Committees.

The SNP Scottish Government intend to leave Scotland as the only country out of the UK and Ireland without Prison Visitor Committees and that worries me greatly, they will in effect police themselves. Extra supplies of bars of soap have already been ordered for prisoners to slip on, 60 organisations were asked to submit answers to the consultation and only 1 out of the 60 advocated the ending of PVC’s guess who? Yes you got it in one, the Scottish Prison Service were the only ones who wanted to abolish them. Having spent time with the PVC’s I could have confidently predicted that. On visits to prisons you are treated by staff as if you are a carrier of a serious infectious disease, the atmosphere is constantly hostile and you get the message that you are considered a nuisance and a “do gooder” I will give 2 examples of what I mean. I had spent some time researching the extent of mental health issues in British prisons and the Guardian Newspaper did a week long series of thoroughly researched articles by experts on the same subject which concluded that in most prisons treatment was poor and sometimes ignored, this in the face of 80% of prisoners suffering from 2 or more mental health problems.Yes readers you read that right the investigation stated that 80% of people in prison were suffering from 2 or more mental health conditions.

I decided to ask the Governor of Barlinnie Prison about this at our next meeting , I quoted the article which he didn’t seem to know about and asked if that alarming figure of 80% was consistent with Barlinnie and he said “no it’s more like 35%” I slowly repeated to him Barlinnie has 35% and the rest of the prisons have 80% and he said “yes give or take” and moved on I was aware that he was treating me with contempt so I just said,“that’s some achievement” 'if looks could kill' no wonder they don’t want the public wandering around their jails. The second incident was on a kind of induction day for new members of the PVC we were being shown round the prison by a senior officer when we came to the visiting hall where prisoners get to meet their family and friends on visiting days, it was busy mainly with women and children. As he went to open the door to take us in I asked if I could have a word and I told him I did not intend to enter the hall, he rather abruptly asked me why and I politely explained that I did not want to impose on meetings between family and friends and prisoners and that I considered it humiliating for them to have total strangers ogling them like exhibits in a zoo. He thought for a minute and called a young prison officer over and said “please escort Mr. Kelly to the exit door at the other side of the visiting hall" which he duly did, that is not the way to treat people but he really couldn’t care less.

A spokeswoman for the Government said that “the new system would help prisoners to deal with offending behaviour and to contribute to reducing reoffending”

That was never the remit of the PVC our remit was to deal with prisoners complaints and help them with any worries they might have the prevention of offending behaviour and prevention of reoffending is the job of the prison professionals.

Prisons are hellish places full of despair and misery and sometimes the only non hostile face a prisoner sees is that of the Prison Visitor. I have spent many visits listening to the most appalling stories and been thankful that at least I was able to listen and talk to them without seeing fear and hatred in their eyes. Prison conditions are a good way of judging a society which calls itself civilised and that alas is a judgement which we fail, the SNP is about to make an already bad system worse they should think again and start by getting rid of the wretched Justice Minister MacAskill tear up the present system and start again .

HOW TO SPREAD CIVILISATION AND JUSTICE BRITISH ARMY STYLE.

Today's newspapers carry the disturbing story of a British soldier in Afghanistan who smuggled in booze to his base and got so drunk that he was in no state to go out on patrol the next day. He went out anyway and during his patrol he confronted an Afghanistan man and his 10 year old son, this confrontation resulted in the boy being stabbed in the kidneys by a bayonet wielded by the soldier.

The family were compensated with £800 while the child was unable to walk properly for a year, the soldier? He got discharged after serving an 18 month prison sentence. Is it any wonder these people hate us? This does not sound like justice to me but the real question is how was this allowed to happen and what kind of penalty is this for such a crime?

THE MARCHING WORKERS v THE TORY/SNP/LIBDEM SCABS – SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE.

Off to the demonstration at County Square this morning to join fellow workers and trade unionists a very respectable crowd attended despite driving rain and high winds. That feeling you get when you join with people in a common cause which is just was in the air as we gathered in the rain, old familiar faces were everywhere and the atmosphere was uplifting. It is my belief that we will see many more days of action like this as we get down to the serious business of taking on the Government who are quite frankly the enemy, there is no other way to describe those who are proposing to destroy our jobs and pensions while protecting the rich.

The largest number of people on strike since the General Strike of 19 26 were out today protesting against the Tory/Libdem pension cuts, an estimated 2 million workers. Doctors, Nurses, Teachers, Social Workers, Cleaners, Civil Servants, 'Butchers, Bakers and Candlestick Makers' stood side by side the length and breadth of Britain in a massive show of defiance against this Government of Tory Toffs and Libdem Parasites who are hell bent in making poorly paid workers pay more, work longer and receive smaller pensions for their trouble. Most of the Cabinet are millionaires who have never done a day's work in their lives. Now when the present pay freeze ends they want to limit wage rises in the public sector to 1% a year for the next two years, with inflation at 5% that amounts to a wage cut over 2 years of 8% from those who can least afford it. This is not just a cruel series of blows for workers it is a show of contempt for working people by this Government who continue to punish the poor and protect their millionaire friends many of whom do not even pay taxes, it is a declaration of war and we have to be ready to meet it because we will regret it for years to come if they get away with it.

Speakers at the Demo. All condemned the Government and some quite rightly highlighted the unsavoury actions of our own SNP/Libdem Council who voted down a recent Labour motion condemning the pension cuts. A strange little cameo was being acted out as the day wore on, there in the crowd were 2 SNP councillors; Education Convener Cllr. Cameron and Council Leader Cllr. Lawson both of whom voted against condemning the Labour motion against the cuts, I'm not sure why they were there, perhaps they argued to support the Labour motion but lost out to their colleagues but I very much doubt that. Their position was inadvertently highlighted by them as people observed how unusual it was for a demonstration this size to be held in County Square Paisley with the council leader standing in the crowd and not on the platform. The answer to that I think is that he was not welcome on the platform, speakers castigated the local SNP for not supporting the demonstration as well as condemning the SNP Government in Holyrood who not only refused to support the action but actually condemned it, we don't really need a Tory Party in Scotland do we?

I congratulate those who stood by their unions and took part in the day's events; as time goes on more and more people will I think: come to the conclusion that they will have to join in and take a stand against the Tory Government and those who collaborate with them whether it be the Libdems in Westminster or the SNP/Libdems here in Scotland. The stakes are high, we are looking to the future not only for us but for those who follow us, our children and their children: we have to battle for them as well. Let the cowards cringe and traitors sneer we will continue the struggle, time to join in folks.

RAZZLE – DAZZLE – D’OLIVEIRA. R.I.P.

Every now and then something happens which reminds us of the past, sometimes it's a good memory and we look back with pride and satisfaction, this is how I feel right now as I reflect on the recent death of Basil     D'Oliveira We got to know and love this guy for two main reasons, he was a great cricketer and he was instrumental in bringing down the loathsome apartheid Government of South Africa, he never changed even when he was on the front page of every newspaper and on every radio and TV bulletin he was never anything other than gracious and dignified. World shattering events surrounded him as one of the most evil political regimes in history began to topple, he was in the eye of that mighty storm and he was a hero to the Anti Apartheid movement which did so much to destroy that racist system. Despite the turmoil which surrounded him he always gave the impression that he was just taking a stroll to the corner shop to buy a paper.

D'Oliveira's journey from South African shanty towns with terrible facilities for non whites to English Cricket was down in no small way to one of the greatest if not theee greatest sports journalists/commentators of all time John Arlott. His trade mark gravel voice was never more powerful than when he poured scorn and vilification on the South African state and the evils of apartheid. Basil's arrival at London airport highlighted the cultural change he was undergoing, a journalist was sent to the airport to fetch him and he eventually found him lost in the terminal as he searched for the "black/coloured" queues as well as for the "black toilet" he came to top class cricket late in life because it was a white only sport at test level in S.A. but he went all the way to play for England in test matches, he was one of the game's greatest 'all rounders' with an upright stance when batting and a calm style before he whacked the ball with formidable power to the boundary.

England were due to tour S.A. and despite D'Oliveira being an automatic test choice he was not selected, it was political chicanery at the highest level as the MCC selectors bowed to pressure from S.A. and prominent British people as well, all toffs needless to say, Tory Party leader Sir Alec Douglas Home flew down from his Scottish estate to lobby MCC selectors not to pick him. Prior to the tour taking place an English player called off injured and the uproar this time was such that they had to pick him. The racist South Africans cancelled the tour and at the same time shot off their own toes.

The anti apartheid movement were fed a ticking time bomb which was now ready to explode in the faces of the sports mad white Afrikaners, the world was appalled and very soon a massive sporting boycott was up and running. The boost that we all got in the anti apartheid movement was hard to believe S.A. was now treated like a pariah and it is now looked back on as the beginning of the end for white supremacists in that country.

I use the fight against apartheid when I think about injustice in the world. We were told we could never win but we did, Civil Rights in America and Northern Ireland? It will never happen, but it did. We are told now that Israel will never budge over Palestinian rights but they will. Just like the other odious despotic regimes through history it will happen, we have to keep on the fight, we must.

In Test matches in South Africa today the sides compete for the Basil D'Oliveira Trophy. He deserves to rest in peace.

 

FULL COUNCIL – SNP SCABS – LIBDEM HARLOTS – AND THE COUNCILLOR WHO IS TOO BIG A FEARTY TO PLAY FAIR (MC FEE, SNP)

Monday 09.00 am to the council for a full council meeting, the council now meets on a Monday to accommodate new MSP's Adam and Mackay SNP. A rather unreasonable display of hubris on behalf of the SNP who are prepared to disrupt council business and years of experience for no other reason than the convenience of two rather selfish and arrogant young men. Council officers and all concerned with full council meetings are furious but unable to express their anger, well done boys.

The meeting was quite quick as they now are because Labour are in opposition and don't believe in wasting time and tax payers money by deliberately stretching the meetings out as the SNP regularly did when in opposition. They cost the council residents tens of thousands of pounds over their years as opposition. They regularly swamped the meetings with spurious motions and amendments and meetings sometimes ran from 9.30 am to 4 & 5.00 pm. One motion called on the Council to spend money on an investigation to discover whether Elvis Pressley's ancestors came from Paisley that should give you a flavour of their attitude to spending your money.

The meeting threw up its usual examples of gross idiocy and arrogance from the SNP/Libdem coalition. Cllr. Nicolson who has a genius for digging himself in to ever bigger holes expressed anger at the last Labour Scottish administration at Holyrood for signing up to the "International Human Rights Act" and then made a complete fool of himself when called upon to defend his position. Under Councillor Nicolson's "independent" Scotland your human rights will be endangered, everyone makes mistakes but this guy elevates his blundering to an art level.

We hoped yet again to get through a meeting without a malevolent intervention from the wretched Cllr. Eileen McCartin Libdem, alas it wasn't to be. Labour submitted a motion condemning the politicisation of the Civil service in Holyrood by the SNP, this motion arose from a similar complaint in the Holyrood Parliament which was supported by everyone except the SNP. The salient point here is that all parties united to condemn the behaviour of the SNP, including the Libdems at Holyrood , our motion was defeated and the Libdems on Renfrewshire Council supported the SNP in the vote despite their own MSP's in Holyrood opposing the SNP. The SNP once again accused Labour of showing disrespect for Civil Servants and council officers while sitting in their midst was the high chief of disrespect none other than SNP Councillor Ian Nicolson who I think holds the record for the longest suspension by the Standards Commission for accusing council officers of nepotism he got a year, you couldn't make it up could you. What are we to make of this? there is no mystery here: the LIbdems do not believe in anything, they stand for nothing they are at all times; for sale to the highest bidder whether here in Renfrewshire or in the Westminster Parliament. The SNP are no better hence the corrupt farce which sees the Tories and \Libdems united at Westminster and opposed by the SNP while here in Renfrewshire we have the SNP and the Libdem in coalition. There is a perfectly simple explanation, here in Renfrewshire the Libdems are dominated by Cllr.McCartin Libdem and she holds the position of Convener of Social Work and gets to sit at the top table at functions and she is well paid. These things take the place of principles that is the kind of person she is.

We then seen Cllr. Mackay and the SNP try to steal the credit for the victory over the government over compensation for workers suffering from plural plaques caused by asbestos. A victory won by a great many people from all political parties and none. Cllr. Williams pointed out to Mackay and the meeting that during the last Labour Government the SNP either abstained or voted with the Tories on every piece of legislation which was designed to increase worker's rights, what a bunch of charlatans, in Holyrood today 16/11/11 the SNP won a vote to keep the Parliament open on the day of the upcoming National strike, SNP scabs how are ye?

The most bizarre farce of the day was supplied as is often the case by Cllr. Bruce McFee SNP when speaking against a Labour motion condemning people trafficking which the SNP/Libdems opposed and the Labour motion was lost. He did his best to assume gravitas (not easy for him) and gave us the benefit? Of his experience of foreign climes including China and Russia both wretched places said the intrepid SNP explorer where women are exploited terribly and forced in to prostitution. It never occurred to him that this kind of thing has been happening in every country on the planet including Scotland since time began not for nothing is prostitution referred to as "the oldest profession in the world" would you not expect someone from the SNP to know that? He is said to be leaving the council, how will we manage? No more self congratulatory posturing; no more endless senseless gibberish about how wonderful he is. Here is a little story about the real Bruce Mcfee, the bluster is born of cowardice and insecurity, at this meeting his little deception, his "arrangement" with Provost Lawson was once again spotted. What happens is that people raise their hands to speak and the Provost takes down their names but for some strange reason no matter what order the hands go up Cllr. McFee's name comes out last to speak, why? I hear you ask. Here's why; because of this little deception he is allowed to sit and take note of what every other speaker has said and then come back at them safe in the knowledge that he is getting the last word.

Disingenuous ? Yes, lily-livered ? Yes, untrustworthy? Yes, deceitful of course but, above all, the actions of a man who is too afraid to enter an argument on a level playing field he has to employ rat like cunning to gain an underhand advantage, in other words a Scottish Nationalist.

THE BELL FOR THE LAST ROUND IS SOUNDING FOR THE GREAT ‘SMOKIN JOE’ FRAZIER.

Having just written about a boxer (Ricky Burns) I have just read that one of the all time greats of heavyweight boxing is very ill and in hospital "Smokin" Joe Frazier who was the first guy to beat the great Ali. Joe was; in my opinion the only fighter to do that when the great man was in his prime.

Frazier was a force of nature as he strode forward always ready to take two to land one and what a one that was. Reports say that he is up against an opponent this time who eventually beats every one of us. We will all reach a time when we look across the ring at our opponent and we see an old guy in white robes with a beard carrying a scythe, it looks like Joe is now ready to go a last couple of rounds with that old guy.

Boxing was never more popular than when Joe and those other heavyweights were plying their trade in the seventies and eighties. We used to sit up until the early hours of the morning to watch Joe Frazier, Charles 'Sonny' Liston, Floyd Patterson, Larry Holmes, Gerry Quarry, 'Enry' Cooper George Foreman and the man who is recognised in every corner of the world by one name 'Ali' as they fought for what was then called 'The richest prize in sport' he was a mighty man and a great fighter who reached the top of the toughest sport on the planet I wish him well against all the odds still, anyone who went the distance against 'Ali' on three occasions might manage to defy the odds a little longer let's hope so, keep swinging 'Smokin Joe'