Friday, July 20, 2007

LAST, LAST WORD, PLEASE

Finally - I have just read a blog which my anonymous opponents have made about me it's called 'Terrywatch' I thought it had stopped.

Please - Please readers - please go and read this site, this is the site which helped me win a landslide - these are the people who clearly hate me - I'm dead chuffed, absolutely proud of myself - go read it !

I'M OFFSKI

This is my last post for a couple weeks as I'm going away on hols. I will be back about Aug. 7 th. 07 I'm off to the beautiful cities of Prague, Warsaw, Wroklaw, Berlin and some others.

Some readers will no doubt note that these were once communist countries and conclude that I should stay in one of them but, the truth is I'm far too attached to where I live now, friends, relatives etc. Fitba and so on.

I'm hoping to squeeze in a visit to the Doctor Who exhibition at the Paisley Museum before going, along with a visit to the Art Gallery where a competition is taking place, the Paisley area has some fine artists and I would recommend a visit.

I wonder if the SNP administration will still be in place when I get back, that's Holyrood and Renfrewshire, have they decided to have ministers with experience of their briefs, like Kenny Mc Askill Justice Minister who has first hand experience of being a drunk and disorderly football Ned and being locked up by the London 'Harry Margolis' on a visit to Wembley to see bonnie Scotland playing Engurland ? A reformed man obviously, a 'poacher turned gamekeeper' How embarrassing is that ?

Bye for now.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

CONGRATULATIONS

Congratulations to Jim Sheridan Labour MP - he has been re-selected as the Labour Candidate for the Paisley and Renfrewshire North seat at the next General Election.

Jim comes from a strong working class trade union background and as such he knows the issues which really matter to working class families, he can be relied upon to continue to fight our corner at Westminster.

Along with many others in Renfrewshire I was proud that it was our MP who presented the bill to parliament which will prevent the activities of the so called 'Gang Masters' who were responsible for the tragedy which saw the deaths of the Chinese workers at Morecambe.

Foreign workers who come here can be exploited by unscrupulous employers and we should all take an interest in this to prevent it happening.
They need the same protection as any other workers here and part of that is union membership, Jim Sheridan has shown that we can and must show international solidarity with our brothers and sisters from other countries - clearly, a man worthy of your support.

LONDON MAYOR

WHO CALLED TORY BOY BORIS JOHNSON ( CANDIDATE FOR LONDON MAYOR ) " A DUPLICITOUS SCOUNDREL" ? WELL FOLKS, IT WAS THAT PILLAR OF CAPITALIST SOCIETY - CONRAD BLACK - OH YES IT WAS !

Poor Conrad awaits his fate having been found guilty of theft, fraud etc. these of course were not his real crimes. Like Archer, Aitken, Thatcher, Hamilton etc, the real crime was getting caught.

Remember the Capitalist motto as told to Terry McCann by Arthur Daly :-

"Terence my son, hitting an old lady over the head with a half brick is a crime, everything else is just business." To paraphrase Oscar Wylde ' you would need a heart of stone not to laugh at Conrad Black's plight.

Monday, July 16, 2007

BLAIR THE PEACE MAKER ?

After approx. 60 yrs. of invasion and killing by Israel, the Palestinians are saying, who ? do you mean ex Prime Minister Blair ? that Tony Blair ?

A member of 'the friends of Israel, Mr Blair's comments on this conflict have been few and far between, America's unquestioning support for Israel despite it's crimes, it's occupation, it's trampling on Palestinian human rights have received the 'de facto' support of Blair and now the Palestinians are expected to look on him as the man who will bring them justice.

Blairs legacy will include the suffering of the Palestinians as well as Iraq, sucked in on both issues by his proximity to the cowboy half wit in the White House, I sincerely hope I'm wrong, this is a mountain to climb just to gain acceptance as an equal player, with his background he does not have, nor deserve to have the trust of the Palestinians.

Palestine, along with Iraq presents an opportunity to take a different direction from the American Cretin, his own supporters are leaving the rat infested sinking ship and I hope that GB will take this opportunity to bring hope and peace to Iraq and Palestine but, hey ! it ain't gonna be easy, America is a friend and should remain so, a friend that is, not a boss.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

ASYLUM SEEKERS

Recent events will inevitably make life more difficult for people who seek asylum in our country, the red topped yellow press are stirring up hatred of 'Johnny Foreigner' just like old colonial times, the old lies are back in fashion, 'stealing our jobs and houses and scrounging off social security' etc. unfortunately people read this poison and don't bother to check the facts which do not support these claims.

Fact - Asylum Seekers are not entitled to housing or benefits until they become permanent.
Fact - Less than 5,000 in 2006 were granted permission to stay.
Fact - They are assessed in the same way as others, they are treated no differently.
Fact - 82% are between 18 and 34 yrs old & 93 % have no dependants. This means they are in the low priority group for social housing.
Fact - Only 0.06 % of Local authority tenants in 2006 were immigrants. A mere 0.3 % were deemed eligible for homelessness assistance and, Between 2005/2006 a minute 1% of social tenants were from abroad.

Conclusion ? we are being lied to big style, do your homework and don't be manipulated by the gutter right wing press.

ASYLUM BEJASUS ! _ A ray of hope from the Emerald Isle, 47 yr. old Rotimi Adebari from Nigeria has become the first black Mayor in Ireland he is now 1st. citizen of Portlaoise, Co. Laois. When he settled there a mere 7 yrs ago his two kids were the only foreigners in the school, there are now more than 30 nationalities in the school. The USA by contrast has just elected it's first black Governor in Massachusetts after 300 yrs. This is the way forward ("we must love one another or die" - W. H. Auden) - I fear that several hundred more years will go by before the killing and the hatred stops, by then, we will have accepted that Capitalism does not work, if anyone is still here that is.

As they say in Ireland, to the Asylum Seeker and struggling immigrant 'may our giving hand never wither'

Thursday, July 05, 2007

GORGEOUS GEORGE

No not Galloway - some people lead incredible lives and bring nothing but pleasure to everyone who comes into contact with them, this was true of George Melly who died today.

Over the past 30 yrs since he went back on the road with the 'John Chiltern Feetwarmers' I have been to many of his shows, once in fact in Erskine ! At the interval of a show at the City Halls Candleriggs we sped off guided by my friend the well known booze sniffer Pat Mulligan through the back tunnels of the place while ahead of us was the unmistakable figure of Melly heading, like us, for a small bar behind the venue called 'Kelly's' ( no relation )

Melly had planned ahead for there on the bar was 6, that's 6, malt whiskies (doubles) which he proceeded to swallow during the 20 minute interval and we had the pleasure of chatting with the great man, he told jokes and stories using his gift for mimicry and accents and had the place in stitches, he then went back and played a great second half, he was loving it and so were the audience.

He wasn't just a Jazz/ Blues singer/ showman - he was an author, drama critic, art expert and raconteur extraordinaire, a real renaissance man, I heard him say once that had he known he was going to live so long ( 80 ) he would have looked after himself properly, thanks for the memories George.