THE BBC THE BNP AND THE SHAMEFUL RATINGS GAME.

There must have been many elderly Jewish people watching Nick Griffin on Question Time; Jewish people aged 85 or so would have been around 20 years old at the time of the Holocaust. They lost too many loved ones and Family members to count and here they were watching the leader of a Fascist Political party taking part in a political debating show being watched by millions of British Viewers. How many second world war veterans sat and watched this man argue with other politicians and pretend to be reasonable; many of them would have longed for their service days when the solution to fascists was readily available to them and now they were watching one on T.V. wearing a suit and tie and sniggering at the accusation that he was a Holocaust denier which he is.

In other homes and places where people gather members of the Gay community would have sat wondering what had become of our country when a man who peddles hatred and violence against them is sitting on national T.V. putting on a stomach churning display of normalcy. Add in Asylum seekers who have fled to this country seeking safety as they look aghast at a man who would treat them as badly as any despot that they fled from. The BNP candidate in the current Glasgow By Election stated the following “I will go to my grave believing that non white people should be allowed to join the BNP” Also when asked if he would admit an Asylum Seeker who could prove that a failed asylum claim would return him to torture and death he said “no he should go to neighbouring countries” what impression did they form?

Think of the devoted parents of children with mental and physical disabilities; watching Griffin and wondering what is going on when an evil man who represents a party which fields candidates who claim that their children are worthless and should be allowed to die looks back at them from the screen in their home. A party who’s supporters were writing to the party news paper saying that Tory leader David Cameron’s late son Ivan who was handicapped was a complete waste of space, what was going through their minds at the site of the evil Griffin being welcomed by the BBC.

What was the mood of Britain’s Black Citizens everywhere around the country as they watched the man who would deport them if given the chance; a man who would gladly destroy their families who have been here for decades?

Griffin has been on a local radio station in Hamilton; some creep has seen an opportunity to raise his listening figures just like the BBC with their viewing figures; today we find the emboldened BNP Fuhrer knocking on doors in Glasgow. Hopefully he will get a “Glasgow Kiss” for his arrogance but this is where the Q.T. appearance leads us.

For those I have mentioned above and many more the Q.T. shame will have made their lives a little bit more unpleasant and scary; people will say what happened under fascism couldn’t happen here but most who say that are not elderly Jews; Asylum Seekers; Gays; Blacks; the Handicapped; Gypsies or any other minorities; tell it to them.

The harm done to our diverse and multiracial communities and those who would be vulnerable to these poisonous thugs far outweighs any so-called benefits that giving them a platform might bring.

THE PEOPLE V THE SNP - THE CLOSURE OF MOORPARK PRIMARY.

Here is a rather disturbing little vignette which typifies the SNP led Renfrewshire Council and it’s hapless leader Cllr. Derek Mackay. The row stirred up by the proposed closure of Elderslie and Johnstone swimming pools has seen the SNP council vilified for their sham consultation. At public meetings e.g. no one at these meetings could find anyone who had been consulted, not one person. This you would think might concentrate the mind of Cllr. Mackay and the SNP/Lib. Dem. led council when it comes to further closures and the consultation which is supposed to accompany such things? You would be wrong.

Next up for the SNP / Lib. Dem. hammer is Moorpark Primary School; readers will recall that I predicted that South Primary would not be the last to be closed and here we are again. On Oct 6 th. 09 at a meeting of Renfrew Community Council where the school closure was discussed we find the following in the minute of the meeting.

“Cllr. Mackay confirmed that Moorpark Primary would close at the end of June 2010”

Remember this was said in public by Cllr. Mackay SNP Counil leader on Oct. 6 th. 09- The consultation start date was Oct. 28 Th. 09 - 22 days later.

Yes folks first consultation meeting to discuss the closure of Moorpark Primary was due to take place on Oct. 28 th. 09. Cllr. Mackay states the school will close on 06 10 09 but; the consultation doesn't start until 28 10 09 - 22 days later. . I suppose we should give credit where it’s due; this young man; SNP council leader Cllr. Mackay is able to predict what the consultation process will come up with 22 days before the process starts and feels confident enough to announce the closure also before the process starts; now that’s clever right? I wonder if he does the horses?

Is it possible that he has inadvertently blurted out the truth and the school as well as the pools will close because the consultation process is a sham; is it that or perhaps arrogance of the kind which says “we will do as we please despite what parents, teachers and pupils say” because we have made our minds up and they are now closed just like the schools and the pools will be closed no matter what anyone says.

This is the reality of the SNP / Lib. Dems. in power!

NATIONALISM - "THE MEASELS OF THE PLANET EARTH" ( ALBERT EINSTEIN)

17.37 pm and in a couple of hours time the country will sit down to watch Question Time. The audience will be bigger than normal the BBC have already figured that out and no doubt some of their executives will be congratulating themselves on their coup. They have embraced evil and claimed they were only “following orders” their charter alludes to fair and equal treatment for all; that’s the weasel words that they have wrapped themselves in; fair and equal; even for those who are genuinely evil. If you believe that Hitler and the Nazis were evil then it follows that Nick Griffin and his followers in the BNP are evil as well because they are the same type of scum that decent people died fighting against some 60 odd years ago.


Griffin will try to appear reasonable and some people will be surprised at how good he will be at doing that but; what he stands for is anything but reasonable; anti Semite; racist; pedlar of hatred. All this and more and people say he is entitled to his opinion; I say he is not. We have a thing called hate crime and he ticks all the boxes; if you say things which constitute hatred against someone because of their race; creed or colour it is a crime; if you are abusive or aggressive to that person it’s a crime; that is why the deviant BBC bosses should have said no.
If a political party is based on hatred of others and its behaviour threatens certain people because of their race etc. then we are not obliged to treat them as a normal political party, would we accept a British Nazi Party with outright fascist dogma and all its bile? The Nazi in this case has been changed to Nationalist but that’s what they are; fascists. The people who stopped the British Blackshirts thank goodness did not debate with them they took them on head to head and drove them from the streets that will in my opinion happen here if the authorities don’t deal with them; these rats now think it’s the right time to crawl back out of the sewers where they have hidden for years and the BBC is partly responsible for their confidence.


My sympathies go to those who will feel a little bit more unsafe when they see Griffin on TV the black communities; the Gay community; any foreigners; any Jews; anyone who could be accused by these creeps of being ‘different’ that’s what will happen tonight thanks to the BBC. To those who suffered and made the ultimate sacrifice in the past the BBC have said. The Nazis you fought and died against are entitled to their opinion and we will give them a platform to spout it. It is the most shameful night in British broadcasting ever.

"EARLY EVERY MORNING WHEN THE DAY IS DAWNING POST MAN PAT'S" (FIGHTING THE ELEMENTS WORKING FOR YOU) SUPPORT HIM NOW!

It’s a simple question; who is telling the truth; Royal Mail or the Communication Workers Union (CWU)? Both sides agreed to modernise the industry and signed up to that; well done the CWU. Was that seen as a show of weakness by management?

The union now says that they (management) are abandoning the spirit of that agreement and becoming more and more ‘gung-ho’ as jobs wages and services are cut; that’s the question; would the CWU have agreed to something like that? I think not. The union actually accepted that there would be job losses and that they would cooperate to handle them in the most just way so; something is clearly going wrong. Here is a crucial question from the CWU “how will the changes to be made affect the men and women who actually drive the vans and push the letters through the doors” a reasonable request from any union charged with the responsibility of protecting its members surely? The Royal Mail have decided that they either don’t know the answer or they are not saying, this stinks as far as I’m concerned; a massive aspect of any deal and they are silent about it; would you trust the bosses if you were a ‘Postie’ it’s a no brainer. The union fears 60,000 lost jobs; the management don’t agree but will not say how many, do you believe them? Perhaps it’s more.

The union agreed to arbitration and management said no; why not? Is this what management mean when they agree to cooperate? The Govt. according to some sources accused some post workers of going home early without trying to provide proof; perhaps the PO Workers should adopt the same standards of diligence and honesty common among those ‘workers’ who represent us in Parliament! The CWU is looking for a sum of £10bn. to protect workers pensions; critics should think about what was done for the filthy rich bankers and fly by night ‘Del boys’ in the city before criticising this request.

Lord Mandelson wanted to sell off part of the Royal Mail before but; it became obvious that the idea did not have public support and crucially for him and the Govt. it had little or no support in the Labour Party; he backed down. This situation has not changed; I have been a member of the Labour Party for approx 35 years and I don’t know one single party member who does not support the CWU and the PO Workers; the union can win this and we must support them.

The miners were criticised by the establishment media for not holding a national ballot and here we have an overwhelming ballot victory for industrial action and guess what? the media seem to be ignoring it; it wasn’t the result they wanted and the workers all 100,000 who will strike are now according to the press “stupid and suicidal” my advice is to ignore the media; no matter what you do or say they will never support you; when it comes to the crunch it’s always the same it’s “we are sympathetic and we all love the posties but; enough is enough; come on now lads and lassies let’s not have everyone’s Christmas ruined” it’s never “come on management address the posties rightful concerns”, never, they are a bunch of quisling b******s.

The Govt. are the sole share holders in Royal Mail; get on to your MP’s and express your support for the people who deliver your mail every day in every kind of weather; the people who don’t just deliver mail but also provide a life line to many people who rely on them they are a great British institution.

BACK THE POST WORKERS STRIKE!

QUESTION TIME - THE BNP - AND FREEDOM OF SPEECH.

On the defeat of hitler - "Do not rejoice in his defeat, you men. For though the world has stood up and stopped the bastard, the bitch that bore him is in heat again" (Bertolt Brecht - The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui)

Should we permit those who would deny free speech to others because of their colour or religion to enjoy freedom of speech themselves? I am speaking of course about the decision of the BBC to allow the leader of the British National Party Nick Griffin to appear on its so called flag ship political discussion programme ‘Question Time’ The BBC have decided that having 2 MP’s elected to the European Parliament makes them legitimate and therefore they should be allowed on the programme. I think the BBC are being disingenuous here; on the one hand they say that being elected by the voters gives the necessary legitimacy but; only it would appear if the BBC decides that the political body you are elected to is deemed by them to be one that they in some way favour; if they are saying winning a democratic political election in Britain gets you their approval then why have they never allowed democratically elected BNP local councillors to appear on Q.T. or the many left wing parties who get elected? does anyone remember Sinn Feinn's democratically elected politicians being banned from everywhere including the BBC, this stinks of Janus faced double standards; Orwell's ministry of Truth based on the BBC for whom he worked is still resonating and the clocks are once again striking 13.

This is another step in the downward spiral of the once great institution. They could not allow a mercy appeal for medical aid for suffering children in Gazza after its partial destruction by Israel and they allow a fascist organisation to be represented on their programme. Our money will be spent on allowing this racist malcontent to speak to the nation, they could have refused on the grounds that they discriminate against non white people who are not allowed to join the collective bunch of bullies and thugs which they call a political party, something that they are now being forced to rectify; or better still they could have just said no!

What are we agreeing to when we accept Nick Griffin on to Q.T. this is a man who denies that the Holocaust existed, he is a self declared fascist and a convicted thug. Survivors who fought Hitler; Jews who survived and lost loved ones to fascism and many other decent people are outraged by this the BBC has gone for a ratings rise and are shamed by this. Those who say that they should be exposed to publicity are wrong the BNP will manipulate this and people will not be enlightened by the programme. People never are; it is not a serious political programme it is a three ring circus despite the pathetic attempts of the oh so talented Dimbleby family member David to lend it gravitas; he simply can’t lend what he doesn’t have; his dad Richard will be spinning in his grave.

The way to deal with scum like this is not to allow them on to TV and to ban them as an illegal political party and jail them when they raise their ugly heads to protest; we don’t need to wait to be shown how evil and depraved they are we already know; do you wait for a foaming rat to bite you or do you just kill it before it gets the chance? These knuckle dragging goons would have supported the Nazis in the last war what more do we need to know.

THE BRITISH MILITARY - THE BRITISH CROWN - THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT - AND SCOTLAND INDEPENDENT - AYE RIGHT.

Following the most recent announcement by the SNP regarding defence under independence; I wonder how many people are wondering like me just what difference would independence make to Scotland and the lives of its people. Any major projects concerning roads, rail, sea; air etc would cost us dear as we would pay all the costs and they would not be cross subsidised as they are now; this would mean the end to major projects and we would struggle to maintain and replace these assets which would deteriorate over the years. A perfect example of this can be seen by visiting Ireland where you can tell instantly when you leave Britain and cross in to the republic by the state of the roads which are poor and in some cases far too small for the volume of traffic.

Would Britain still want its navy ships built in Scotland when it has similar facilities in the South? where would they go for rail and sea equipment; would they come to us when they can provide their own? How many military jobs would go in places like the Clyde submarine bases and the Naval yards at the Forth, who would pay for major road and rail repairs and maintenance in a climate which is harsher than that in England? What would a Scottish National Health Service look like without the support of the worlds 5th. largest economy what economic clout would we have if we were not part of the worlds 5th. largest economy? You can consider such things and add some of your own as you think about the consequences of voting SNP.

That last recent announcement from the SNP on defence was to the effect that an independent Scotland would be pleased to have any units of the British Army, Navy or Air force who wanted to be stationed in Scotland to do so. So; let’s recall the SNP rhetoric. ‘The cause of all Scotland’s problems the people who have cheated Scots. for centuries and treated us like second class citizens’ are to be welcomed to stay like colonialists; oh the shame of it; the embarrassment; we want independence but please stay anyway. Still we will at last be rid of the hated Ingurlish Royal Family right? brace yourselves bravehearts because wee Alex (the spiv) has reneged on that also. Yes Jock the wonderful independent Scotland will not only have British military units stationed all over it but the Ingurlish Queen and her layabout family will still be the heads of state; it’s beginning to look like toy town independence I’m afraid.

The final blow; the biggest elephant in the room is Europe which the SNP don’t seem to want to talk about; the plain fact of the matter is that no state which is a member of Europe is independent. Europe makes rules and laws which impinge on our everyday lives and it will be the same for Scotland; wee Alex (the spiv) is an enthusiastic European and will quite happily sign away Scottish sovereignty to a European state where the head of state is the Queen of Britain and foreign military units are stationed all over it; in fact does anyone recognise this place as Independent? Can someone from the SNP help out here? Are there any Nats. out there who even at this stage are prepared to admit that you are being sold a pup by a duplicitous political scoundrel.

Wee Alex (the spiv) Salmond; the man who can strut while seated, you poor fools.

POOR TOMMY ATKINS IS SECOND BEST AGAIN.

Meanwhile back here in Britain yesterday we did something which we do rather well; there in all their finery were the great and good at St. Paul’s Cathedral to pay tribute to the dead in Iraq; the dead on both sides were remembered this time since the evil Thatcher had no hand in it. During a similar service for the Falklands dead she tried to ban any reference to the Argentine dead; she was faced down by the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Ronald Runcie who insisted on prayers for the enemy dead; much to her fury. How ironic and satisfying it was some time later to discover that the elderly cleric who stood up to the rancid old war criminal was also the holder of the Military Medal awarded for gallantry as a tank commander in Normandy in WW 11. These public exhibitions of remembrance turn my stomach; they always manage to look triumphalist. They also push forward into the lime light the wrong people such as politicians, military officers and the usual collection of Royal fools dripping in gold and festooned with undeserved medals.

If we must have these public shows more effort should be made to emphasize the awfulness of war which might concentrate the minds of those who take the decisions to go to war. I would have these occasions led by the wounded instead of hiding them away, every Soldier, Sailor or Airman wounded should be present and should occupy the front rows of the church where no one can miss them. Wheelchairs crutches beds and guide dogs should take prominence; they have earned it, let the extras from the Gilbert and Sullivan opera fight it out for the cheap seats.

I remember the controversy over the Falklands remembrance service which was attended by wounded servicemen but they were positioned in a part of the church where they could not be seen and were not shown on TV; I thought that that was a filthy trick worthy of the dirtiest propagandists anywhere and the ceremony the other day was the same. Because of what happened under Thatcher I watched closely but failed to see a single injured soldier, sailor or airman. Someone must be responsible for the running of these things which suggests that once again a decision was made to hide the wounded if indeed they were there. Would the most sycophantic monarchist argue that Prince Philip doddering around like an expensive Christmas tree is more worthy of prominence than someone who fought and sustained wounds? Does the military brass think that they should be the ones on show rather than those they commanded who have been wounded? It’s a bloody disgrace and it’s also another example of how much respect our society really has for those who make the real sacrifices which is very little.

THE PRESIDENT - THE PEACE PRIZE - AND THE RIGHT WING GANGSTERS.

President Obama is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and the “good ole boys” of the American right are spitting feathers; goddammit there they are stirring up as much anti Obama poison and hatred as they can and the worlds most prestigious prize lands in his lap; more than half of Americans love him and now it seems that the world does to; the Republican bigots are left thinking like Dick Tuck defeated Democrat Candidate who said; “The people have spoken, the bastards."

It is impossible to describe the hatred that some Americans have for Obama; it is beyond anything seen here with the possible exception of Moseley’s fascist rallies in the thirties; I urge you to try U Tube to see some of it but; be warned it is scary stuff. It’s racist; it’s red neck; it’s violent and it is backed and organized by the corporate gangsters who run much of American business; these crooks will be raging at the Nobel committee and so will their fellow gangsters in Israel where he has shown himself to be the first president to recognize that support for Israel’s crimes will have to stop.

The campaign to denigrate the Nobel committee and the peace prize has now begun; millions of right wing dollars will be thrown at it and it will travel from being inappropriate where it is now to being a global communist conspiracy. Obama who is coming under fierce attack by the vested right wing interests and knuckle dragging red necks should console himself by just looking at who his enemies are and conclude that he must be doing something right.

"I'M GOING TO CHANGE; FROM NOW ON THERE WILL BE NO MORE MR. F*****G NICE GUY". (SIR ALEX FERGUSON)

Fellow Labour man (good) and football manager (bad) Fergie; is a cheat and a bully. Once again Sir Alex Ferguson makes the news for the wrong reasons. Another familiar rant against a referee who had the misfortune to be officiating at Old Trafford on a United bad day; unable to fix on any refereeing mistakes or bad decisions he decided that the referee in question was not fit enough to referee the game; he went on to draw unfavorable comparisons between English referees in general and their European counterparts who were said he “as fit as butchers dogs” except of course the ones who referee United games in Europe who are just dogs; (OK I made the European dogs bit up)

I first became aware of Ferguson as a player approx. 40 years ago and he has not changed one bit; in addition to present day bully and cheat you can add thug when he was a player; I would be very surprised if the bullying; cheating and thuggery were not in evidence when he turned out for his primary school team.

What most English football people; teams players fans commentators etc. will not know is that he has serious “previous” his behavior as a player was nasty and vicious; his ability was limited and this brought out his frustration. On one occasion in a Scottish Cup Final at a packed Hampden where his opponents Celtic were giving his side a drubbing he deliberately head butted Celtic’s Bobby Murdoch and rather like today he got away with it; the list of players who felt the force of his elbow in their faces is a long one.

As manager he took St. Mirren from relative obscurity to the top division where almost every game they played was littered with controversy and confrontations with referees; so wound up did he have the fans that they developed a taste for trouble and nastiness which they have never managed to shake off; “of all the racist fans I have ever come across in my career the fans of an obscure Scottish team called St. Mirren were the worst” (Ruud Gullit). The racism has been diluted greatly but by jings they are still angry about something. St. Mirren BTW were a good team then under Ferguson but trouble with a capital T. The caravan then pitched up in Aberdeen where something similar happened he produced a team which broke the dominance of the old firm and part of the price to be paid was that every fan in Scotland hated them; not just old firm fans as they would have you believe but everyone.

Fergie’s version of the ‘rota system’ at St.Mirren and Aberdeen which can be seen today at Man. U is for players to take it in turn kicking the most dangerous opponent and haranguing the referee; he is a good student he learned this from the odious Don Revie and Leeds. “someone who seeks to gain an unfair advantage is a cheat” that is the most common definition and it could have been coined for Fergie; that’s what all the abuse of referees is about; to intimidate them; storming down the tunnel at half time to wait for and abuse the ref. Is one of his favourites (no cameras) to catch it. People like Ferguson despite their success are bad for the game they will do anything to gain an edge including cheating; they are terrible examples to youngsters.

Manchester United in the past were everybody’s second favourite team this was because of their style and glamour; Munich also helped the legend as did their great manager Matt Busby who would be appalled at how the manager of his beloved United behaves; Busby would rather lose than carry on like Ferguson. From being loved and respected by everyone to being hated by everyone is what has happened under Ferguson; all the trophies and triumphs are not worth this; the sooner he goes the better for United and football, Manchester United are a great club and in time people will come to see that again; by then Ferguson will be remembered with embarrassment and shame by those who love the Beautiful Game.

GENERAL SIR RICHARD DANNETT THE TORIES LOOKING AFTER THEIR OWN.

A few weeks ago I commented on the performance and political leanings of the Army top brass; I have long held the view that they are not promoted by ability or talent and many of them are career soldiers because they are not capable of surviving in the real world. What better way to hide your inadequacies is there than blaming the Govt. when you can’t beat a vastly inferior force? With a media which is almost entirely anti Labour they get to blame someone else and enjoy the bonus of damaging a political party that they were born to hate. No matter how incompetent the top officers are they can blame a lack of equipment safe in the knowledge that the right wing media will let them off with it.

The latest non story about General Sir Richard Dannett preparing to throw in his lot with the Tories is about as shocking as an Alex (the spiv) Salmond broken promise it’s no shock whatsoever. Top military leaders in Britain have always been drawn from the ruling classes and they still are; the royal fools Prince Winco Willie and Prince Hooray Henry will in future be leaders of men for god’s sake; how can you expect a modern fighting force with such hidebound institutionalised buffoonery still firmly in place.

The dullard General Dannett has already called for a Christian Crusade to combat Islamic Fundamentalism; this guy was actually unning the army and he wants God to bless our bullets; to paraphrase the Iron Duke “I don’t know what he does to the enemy but he scares the hell out of me” can you imagine being led into danger by this clown? Some people are complaining about his break with tradition by admitting his political leanings; this is a smoke screen; if you don’t know the politics of him and the other chinless cretins who lead our armed forces you must be a hermit. Dannett has been attacking the Govt. for ages; was he also preparing the ground for a job with the Tories; he clearly thinks they are going to win, all the more reason to beat them; we can’t afford to have clowns like this running anything.

Tory shadow minister Chris Grayling inadvertently blew the lot of this trash away; when asked to comment he wrongly supposed it was a Labour appointment and called it a gimmick. The man who has been complaining about lack of Govt. support leaves the army and joins the Tories does anyone still trust his motives? Were all those attacks on Gordon Brown honestly on behalf of his men or were they politically motivated? He now looks like a completely discredited charlatan and the Tories are shown up again for committing that most odious and unforgiveable tabloid sin; that of being unpatriotic.

Lest you think it’s just me on one of my hobby horses; let me share an interesting quote from a guy called Andrew Grant; Andrew who? I hear you ask. This is Andrew Grant the Chair of the Private schools Headmasters and Headmistresses Conference; making a defence of private education he said the following;-
“without public schools Britain would not have enough officers to lead it’s Army” that is how these people think; forget ability, courage and talent your established upper class family will see you alright no matter how much of a cretin you are. The British Army Officer Corps is awash with idiocy and deceit ; the fact that it is polluted with Tories is scant compensation for the tragic damage and loss that is going on, when you think back to the Iron Duke; Balaclava and Ypres you realise sadly that it was ever thus.

USA PLAYING BY THE SAME RULES AS EVERYONE ELSE WOULD BE A GOOD START.

The outrage from Americans about the release of Al Megrahi threw up some interesting examples of how cocooned American society is. Their revulsion at the disaster of Lockerbie is understandable while their craving for revenge is repulsive and for such a God bothering country very unchristian; they continue to cherry pick the bits of the bible which suits them; usually the blood thirsty passages like an eye for an eye and the wrath of God. Their enthusiasm for hanging and gassing people has always struck me as being a sign of instability on a grand scale. Reading conflicting articles and opinions about this took me back to the Vietnam War and a man called Lieutenant William Calley.

In 19 68 Calley overseen an action at a village called My Lai in Vietnam which saw 500 men; women and children massacred; the world was traumatised by this and waited to see what would happen, 3 years we waited before he was found guilty of mass murder; the resulting sentence which Americans found acceptable was 3 years under house arrest. In a show of sickening callousness someone produced a cringing country and western style record praising him and his patriotism; this record sold millions and the whole episode caused America to lose support for the war.

The contrast between their calls for the dying Megrahi to die in jail while accepting the treatment of Calley represents staggering arrogance and hypocrisy on their part; clearly some Americans believe that an American life is more sacred and more valuable than a Vietnamese one and IMO it follows that that goes for the rest of us as well. Calley has resurfaced after all these years as a man who at last realises the enormity of his actions and speaks of his overwhelming regret and sympathy for both the Vietnamese dead and the American troops whose lives were for ever ruined by what took place.

This is what war does; it ruins lives on every side and sympathy is due to them all; even Calley; he will take this to his grave and his beloved country will carry the scar for ever. We should all reflect on the words of the great American singer and peace activist Pete Seeger from his anti war anthem “ Where have all the flowers gone” when he sings “when will they ever learn; oh when will they ever learn” they certainly haven't learned yet.