Lord Levy and Cash for Honours


…the swoop on Levy perfectly illustrates the decay of the Government and the putrefaction of the honours system

It is as though we don’t do white-collar fraud, except when it involves peerages, and we contract the big stuff to our American overlords

Arrest Lord Levy! Arrest Blair! Arrest the lot of them

Let me begin by saying that I have no objection at all to the decision to arrest Lord Levy. I am sure I speak for millions when I say that it is high time that the fuzz moved in on the Blairite high command, and they might as well start with his tennis partner. As far as I am concerned, the whole lot of them deserve to have their collars felt. If the cops decide to launch dawn raids on all the other arch-toadies of the regime, they will find many of us prepared to hold their coats.

Winkle Mandy from his lair! Arrest Alastair Campbell and haul him out from under whatever stone now conceals him. Let’s nick them all, sarge! Go, boys, go! And if Sir Ian Blair decides to haul his namesake in, I am not going to stand in his way.

What joy it must be for the cops – and yet what an amazing spectacle we must present to the world outside. Here is the Prime Minister’s chief financial fixer being hauled in for questioning about a suspected crime that is quintessentially British, and unknown to any other jurisdiction on earth – the sale of peerages. Huge numbers of detectives are involved. Expensive new software is being installed to track down any deleted e-mails.

I would not dream of pretending that the matter is unimportant, since the swoop on Levy perfectly illustrates the decay of the Government and the putrefaction of the honours system. I merely ask you to contrast this frenzied activity by the police and their total indifference to the case that was discussed in Parliament yesterday.

As the minister did not hesitate to remind the House, the allegations against the NatWest Three are very grave indeed. They relate to the biggest financial scandal of the past few decades, in which a company worth billions was destroyed and thousands lost their jobs, and in which a British bank was (allegedly) defrauded of millions of pounds. The NatWest Three, like Lord Levy, are to be found in Britain. Like the noble lord, they are British citizens. It is suggested that their alleged offence was against British interests.

The tennis partner-in-chief is being questioned about an outrage to the British constitution, namely Labour’s suspected cash-for-coronets scheme. The NatWest Three are accused of what amounts to theft from a British bank – a matter that you might have thought was of equal interest to our criminal justice system. But it is the silver-quiffed Lord Levy who has the exquisite shame and embarrassment of being arrested, and who is forced to issue a statement alleging that this is a gross abuse of police powers.

And what do the police do to the NatWest Three, for all the terrible accusations against them? They do diddly squat. They move not a muscle. They go into spasms of excitement about the corruption of the ermine and, in the face of the NatWest allegations, they turn into monuments of marmoreal motionlessness. No emanation of the British criminal justice system has taken the slightest interest in prosecuting these three, and yet we are happily sending them for trial in America.

It is bizarre. It makes us look like a banana republic, or some backward and unselfconfident province of the Roman empire.

It is as though we don’t do white-collar fraud, except when it involves peerages, and we contract the big stuff to our American overlords.

I don’t know whether David Bermingham and the other members of the NatWest trio are guilty or not, but I do know that when he boards the 9.30am flight from Gatwick today, the British Government will be conniving in a serious injustice.

It is a measure of this Government’s panic over the 2003 Extradition Treaty with America that Tony Blair has simultaneously dispatched Baroness Scotland to plead with the American authorities. She is to scurry around Washington, reminding people how staunch we were in the war on Iraq and inquiring whether they might see their way round to ratifying this treaty. She will point out that we have been good boys, as usual, and put it into our law. She will ask whether they might consider doing the same. She will be given the bum’s rush. She will then join the Prime Minister in begging the Americans to use what clout they have with the courts in Texas to give the men bail, and allow them to return to England, so that they don’t spend the next two years in Guantanamo conditions while preparing their cases.

What a truly incredible state of affairs, and what a devastating comment on the workability of this treaty, that senior Labour ministers should be obliged to rush around Washington begging the American authorities not to use the powers we have given the Americans, and which the Americans refuse to give us.

As I have said before, the first problem with this Extradition Treaty is that it is unbalanced. Contrary to the rubbish peddled by the Prime Minister, it gives the Americans the right to demand suspects from Britain with virtually no evidence, while American suspects wanted by Britain have the protection of a hearing in which the evidence against them can be tested and contested, in court, by the defence.

That asymmetry would apply even if the treaty were ratified and would be reason enough to drop it. What makes it even worse is that the 2003 treaty takes away the right of any British authority to decide in which country the case should be heard.

As I never tire of saying, the natural forum for this case is obviously Britain: the evidence is all here, the men involved are Brits, and the allegedly defrauded entity was NatWest. The Americans are scooping them up because American telegraphic equipment was involved. Well, you might as well ask the Americans to try Lord Levy on the grounds that he used American Microsoft programmes to send his e-mails.

The best thing would be to renegotiate this treaty, not just for the sake of British justice but for the sake of America, whose reputation is suffering terribly as a result of the scandal. I have faith in the fundamental goodness of America. I hope relations will improve. We must have faith, hope and parity – and the greatest of these is parity.

142 Comments

  • At 2006.07.19 05:06, Doctor Prion said:

    One last thing Jack, you’ve heard of the term “Collective Punishment”?

    The Israelis are quite fond of it.

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    • At 2006.07.19 07:49, Woemaster said:

      The US patronage of Israel has caused them to be a proxy for Middle Eastern aggression.

      Not deluding themselves with any notion of being able to strike directly at the US (except in Iraq) Islamic fundamentalism contents itself with attacking the next best thing, Israel.

      Israel cannot afford to lose this conflict.

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      • At 2006.07.19 08:44, Steven_L said:

        ‘Let’s get on to fresh territory folks and out of the Bratpack analysis’

        Check out this cool new plane guys.

        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F22

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        • At 2006.07.19 09:35, Jack Ramsey said:

          Dr Prion

          No sir! DA is not my reference and I thought the Falklands was a bad example too. I merely referred to DA’s blog because I didn’t want to take up valuable room – that which you have left – with repeating my comments on Boris’ blog. This gives people a choice about whether they wish to view the results of the meandering of my febrile brain (but it’s only a click away folks!).

          I think DA has a more worthwhile perspective than most journalists.

          As is your comment re the support of Irish Americans for those well known fighters for liberty the IRA. The Americn Government never supported the IRA as a means of destroying either Britsh rule in Ulster or the British state. The Iranian leadership by comparison wants Israel to be history and probably the same for the Jews as a whole. Thus it arms Hizbollah not with the odd brace of AK 47s but a whole range of big boy’s rockets to aid this process. So another nice fable but I’ll have to mark you down for lack of correspondence with the facts. Must try harder!

          Melissa – I’m pleased to see you’re whipping them into shape!

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          • At 2006.07.19 10:30, Steven_L said:

            More educational stuff from our friends at wikipedia

            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Hezbollah.svg

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            • At 2006.07.19 11:09, Steven_L said:

              Oh, and Jack Ramsey, you have my patriotic support on this one mate. We might not agree on much, but I agree with much of what you have said on this.

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              • At 2006.07.19 12:03, raincoaster said:

                One of the reasons I generally avoid the whole Israeli war debate is that it is so exquisitely divisive. People pick sides in this more readily and more strongly than in any other kind of international conflict. We cannot seem to treat Israel as a mere geographic and political entity, and fall into the trap of treating it as some kind of supernatural supernational entity, whether of good or evil. I’m guilty of this as much as anyone.

                But we really might be facing a nuclear situation in this case, so we all do have to think about this with a great deal of care. The American news outlets are possibly the worst in the world for reliable information and clarity, perhaps second behind Saudi Arabia’s. The UK news outlets are also so slanted that straining the facts out of the sludge almost isn’t worth the effort. That’s why I like the blogs.

                Here is BEYOND NORTHERN IRAQ, the blog of Stuart Hughes, a BBC reporter. Having read some of the BBC “blogs” I have to say you’ll find more valuable stuff on the personal blogs. He also posts his (uncensored) pictures here.

                The US is in a very awkward position. There is no question at all that they have been funding much of Israel’s growth for decades, as well as training and supplying its military. In the past twenty years, the US has begun to do the same for Saudi Arabia and Islamic jihadists in Afghanistan, among other nations. Bin Laden is American-trained, for instance.

                The American position has always been reflexively pro-Israel, but now, with their armed forces stretched to the breaking point and beyond, with the PR imperative to avoid the appearance of Arab-bashing, and with the obvious public outrage against Israel as the aggressors in this case, the US could go either way.

                As Condi goes, so goes the war. God help them all.

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                • At 2006.07.19 12:14, Jack Ramsey said:

                  Steven_L

                  Actually I can’t remember what we disagreed on (it’s age on my part). I’m sure we shall both be forcibly reminded of our differences soon. But as Ali G says

                  “Respect man!”

                  or something like that!

                  Are you a liberal mugged by reality neo-con?

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                  • At 2006.07.19 12:54, Apostrophe Police said:

                    Apostrophe Police are back in town and wish to reiterate that the use of the word “respect” in jovial bombastic fashion is one thing, but ommitting the comma before the word “man” is a commonly seen misdemeanour for which you shall be chastised.

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                    • At 2006.07.19 13:12, Steven_L said:

                      Jack,

                      We probably has different points of view over the lecturers strike or some other piffle we had a quick blog about.

                      I am naturally liberal minded in some respects, I have no problem with people hunting foxes or wearing (non-designer branded) headscarfs in schools.

                      I’ll be the first to admit I jumped on the ‘lets take the ‘mike’ out of Dubya’ when he became President. At the tender age of 21 I jumped on the whole anti-Bush bandwagon like most young people I knew did after the shocking events of 9/11.

                      I don’t know what you mean by ‘reality neo-con’ I’ve just changed my opinions on a few things recently.

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                      • At 2006.07.19 13:16, Jack Ramsey said:

                        Apostrophe Police

                        B****r! I should have consulted the young persons in my household before trying such as risky move! Correction received and understood!

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                        • At 2006.07.19 13:39, raincoaster said:

                          Jack, Jack, Jack. We are trying to elevate the tone here. Please…I’m so disappointed in you, man.

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                          • At 2006.07.19 13:40, Steven_L said:

                            Hi Raincoaster,

                            Was thinking about your passport predicament. I reckon you should write to HRH The Queen, after all what Canadian doesn’t want to see the changing of the guard?

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                            • At 2006.07.19 13:41, Steven_L said:

                              Ooopps

                              I mean Her Majesty. Sorry, not good with titles and things.

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                              • At 2006.07.19 14:01, jaq said:

                                Jack Ramsey – I’m with you, all the way honey.

                                Can’t agree with the chastisement though as you were quoting. Consider your chastisement wounds well and truly licked!

                                Oh Boris, Boris (sigh) if only I could have received a slim volume of greek poetry from you. Oh well, love and kisses had to do I suppose!

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                                • At 2006.07.19 14:21, Apostrophe Police said:

                                  Jack Ramsey – I refer you to your post, above, dated 09:35am.

                                  Tell me this:
                                  Where does the apostrophe go to indicate the possessive in your sentence?
                                  I am asking you one last time before I am officially disappointed by the absence of any good standard of punctuation in your additions.

                                  Your phrase is:
                                  “…a whole range of big boy’s rockets…”

                                  You, as I have replicated, placed it before the “s” in boys.
                                  It should have gone AFTER the “s.”

                                  It is the boys in the plural and it is THEIR toys of which you speak so it must read “boys’ toys.”

                                  You have been punctuated.

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                                  • At 2006.07.19 15:09, Doctor Prion said:

                                    “No sir!…” (Jack Ramsey)

                                    Given the views you expressed on the DA blog I suppose you’ll dismiss this (see link) as Arabic ‘spin’.

                                    peace plan sabotage

                                    I draw your attention to the section: “Two days after the news conference…”

                                    Looks like a real commitment to peace to me. I’d be fascinated to see your source for “Israel has been the one trying to negotiate and has conceded again and again.” outside your febrile dreams (which are probably about Greater Israel).

                                    Bullshit. You’re just another Zionist Islamophobe the likes of which Bush relies on to create worldwide instability and alienate the Middle East.

                                    I’m wasting my time here.

                                    You sicken me.

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                                    • At 2006.07.19 15:19, Steven_L said:

                                      Dr Prion,

                                      In case you didn’t notice there was a polite request from the administrator of this website to tone down the language a bit?

                                      I think everyone understands that people have strong feelings about what is happening in the world at the moment.

                                      At the end of the day none of us have all the answers either.

                                      Swearing about it is not going to help keep the tone sensible. I apologise to anyone who has been offended or annoyed by my use of inflammatory language on this (off)topic.

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                                      • At 2006.07.19 15:47, Dr Prion said:

                                        What swearing you irritating sycophant? Are you the milk monitor or do you just want a gold star from the teacher?

                                        This isn’t a political blog it’s a cosy little chat room for a clique of self congratulating halfwits.

                                        I always had a grudging respect for Boris Johnson but if you lot are representative of what he tolerates he really must be as blithering and dozy as he comes across.

                                        Sad

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                                        • At 2006.07.19 15:52, Steven_L said:

                                          Never met the man, could be twit for all I know. I like reading his stuff mate, I’m opinionated, I like arguing.

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                                          • At 2006.07.19 17:11, Musharra Amedin said:

                                            This is the begining of the end for the murderring Israeli scum.

                                            The US and UK should feel shame in helping Zions theives and persecuters of women and children.

                                            Praise Allah in his infinate wisdom and may he give strength those who hate opression

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                                            • At 2006.07.19 17:28, Ban Tuesday said:

                                              Crikey, it’s certainly warmed up round here.

                                              You’ve even pulled the online intefada, Respeck!

                                              Naah, I’m sorry, I’ve decided the Israelis get my vote on this one, sorry Filament.

                                              Although I can’t really condone blowing the crap out of civilians there doesn’t seem much alternative to stop an unregulated militia (Hizbullah) from flattening Northern Israel. (Which they started without the permission of the Lebanese people or the Government.)

                                              ‘Fraid the back wheel skids din’t have much choice in this one so, although I don’t like the idea of kids getting splattered, the blame must lie with the terrorists.

                                              Byeeee.

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                                              • At 2006.07.19 17:33, jaq said:

                                                Oh Good Grief!! Are all the British quietly making tea in the face of this offensive diatribe? Steven was correct in that we do all have strong opinions but can I remind the offenders that profanity and personal atack is not an intelligent way to argue a point. Melissa – over to you. I’m going for a cuppa until the grown-ups get back.

                                                Musharra Amedin – your opinion is frightening, but then the voice of a fanatic always is. You see, your last line is a contradiction.

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                                                • At 2006.07.19 19:06, Arthur Mellor said:

                                                  I fail to see how there can be any argument or dissent about this matter at all.

                                                  Israel, quite simply, brought the Hezbullah attack upon itself; the direct result of 39 years of systematic abuse of Palestinians. The very best its leaders could plead would be contributory negligence.

                                                  During the course of one week Israel has callously murdered over three hundred innocent men women and children. Naturally, these people were ‘only Lebanese’ and therefore of less importance than Israeli cattle from the perspective of the Israeli military machine. This appraisal/value assessment can be easily confirmed by the simple expedient of a ten minute conversation with any active member of the IDF. Certain people on this forum have argued that Israel had no choice but to retaliate because of incoming missile attacks. This is a specious corruption of the fact that the Israeli government made no attempt whatsoever to compromise on any matter at hand but merely, as is their usual practice, issued a set of non-negotiable, unilateral demands; strife and conflict being their preference in any case.

                                                  Someone here also claimed that the Israelis do not target civilians. I recommend that this person takes a trip through Gaza so he/she can count the civilians targeted first hand. It won’t take very long.

                                                  I could only conclude that anyone who disagrees with these comments is either Israeli or has never been to the West Bank. Alternatively, they may be a member of the Bush administration whose current policy is understood, by many Islamic nations, to be “the only good Moslem is a dead Moslem”.

                                                  I humbly request that those persons supporting Israel’s position in this matter take some time for a visit to Gaza or the West Bank. Then they must feel free to comment at length about the curatorship of the IDF in the occupied territories and the willingness of the Israeli nation to live in peace and harmony with other religions and nations. Alas, they will find, as I did, a country born of outrage and committed to the preeminence of Zion above all else, with scant regard to the moral and ethical boundaries these policies transgress.

                                                  The Israeli assault on Lebanon should receive immediate, unqualified UN censure and a multi-national force should be dispatched to Gaza, the West Bank and South Lebanon as soon as is reasonably possible; with or without Israeli consent.

                                                  Arthur Mellor,
                                                  Senior Aid Administrator SAMAF

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                                                  • At 2006.07.19 19:13, Apollonius said:

                                                    I’ve just been on a website that displays photographs of the devastation wrought upon the Lebanese people by Israel in its act of vengeance/reprisal/defence/righteous war on terror (delete as your bias dictates). I was terribly saddened to see the dust-covered, now disfigured and lifeless forms of infants pulled from the rubble of civilian homes/legitimate targets/precision strikes (delete as your bias dictates). I am equally saddened to witness the lack of humanity and compassion shown here by the defenders of the killing/Israeli right of defence/war on terror/”we’ll show them” groups, who insist that Israel is; right, the victim, surrounded by enemies, are peaceful and just want to be left alone (cue the pathos and appealing to the inherent racism and cultural bias of westerners towards people who are non-white/non-Christian/rag-heads/Muslims (delete as your bias dictates). The thing is; I would like to ask a question. If Israel only desires peace, and of course there is no point in framing this question at their government, but perhaps a simple Israeli citizen can answer; what form would this peace take for you? In answering I would like the scope of the answer to include the following:
                                                    What do you, the Israeli citizen, expect in terms of safety and guarantees from your neighbours/Arabs in general/Muslims/the world at large, and why you deserve this security and which, if guaranteed, would cause you to say to your government and military “we are now ok, we have no need to fight/defend ourselves/bully/steal/act in a reprehensible fashion (delete as your bias dictates)?” Further what do you offer in return? What can the Palestinian population (who have been the victims in the establishment of Israel), the greater Arab community and the Muslim world expect in return? Please be very specific in terms of what the Palestinian people can look forward to in terms of land, rights and respect (we won’t bother with apologies). What parts of the territory that they previously enjoyed as their own will you deem them entitled to? Will they be invited back en-masse into the former Palestine/Israel and share in a one-man one-vote solution? If not, why not? Or does peace mean to you the complete and utter destruction of countries, societies, villages and ways of live that pre-date your colonization because you are greedy/divinely favoured/mental/scared/have a big plan for a big biblical/torah Israel? (delete as you bias dictates) Children are dying and the pictures are not pleasant. Palestinians have been dying since the advent of zionism. The Jews in Palestine are a reality, the Palestinians in Palestine and the refugees are a reality, the need for those outside the area to find a peace is a reality. Individual, common people, mothers and father, brothers and sisters can and will find a solution if allowed. The pressures that currently preclude common people finding a solution as I see it are as follows: Despotic ME regimes such as the House of Saud needing to deflect popular attention from their tyranny, the US/UK industrial/military complex and its greed, Zionism/Judaism/Christianity/Islam, cultural prejudice and apathy. I personally never want to know that another Palestinian/Lebanese/Israeli child is lying lifeless, its body broken, covered in dust because of the callous attitudes so easily adopted and supported by the common folk in times of fear.

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                                                    • At 2006.07.20 03:03, raincoaster said:

                                                      I’ll spare you the link, but there is certainly adequate photographic evidence to show that Israel has, in fact, slaughtered a lot of children in this conflict.

                                                      Did anyone else read the Doonsbury from a few years ago?
                                                      “What’s the dead terrorist count?”
                                                      “Twenty dead terrorists in the last round, sir.”
                                                      “Excellent.”
                                                      “Five dead terrorist men, five dead terrorist women, and ten dead terrorist babies.”

                                                      Israel only targets terrorists; they just forgot to tell us they define it racially.

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                                                      • At 2006.07.20 03:23, raincoaster said:

                                                        This seems to be a fairly unbiased report, with some good background material.

                                                        The attack on Haifa raised Israel’s death toll from the fighting to at least 24, including 12 civilians. Israeli air strikes in Lebanon have killed about 150 people, mostly civilians. Seven Canadian citizens — members of the same family — are among the dead, killed in an Israeli air strike on the border town of Aitaroun.

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                                                        • At 2006.07.20 05:56, Philomon Ndebele said:

                                                          So Jack,
                                                          how many terrorists were in the Canadian bus and the power station? Terrorists often being electrical engineers and well known for putting on a Canadian accent. Could fool anyone.

                                                          I’d also be interested to understand how blowing up a power station “reduces the movement of Hizbollah forces”

                                                          Love the Doonsbury post raincoaster.

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                                                          • At 2006.07.20 06:10, Apollonius said:

                                                            During the 1960′s as Israeli atrocoties carried out against Palestinians began to attract the attention of the world’s media, which was at the time, comparitively free of it’s current pro-Israeli bias, Zionist supporters began making use of “the holocaust” to manipulate pulic opinion and enlist the support of potentially powerful friends. This new found syzygy of Zionism and the holocaust saw the numbers of Jewish deaths at the hands of the Nazis rise steadily during the 60′s and 70′s until they peaked at 6m somewhere in the 80′s I think. Now we have Holocaust museums where black & white still photographs, grainy camera work and reconstructions of these terrible events can be visited to give the viewer an experience of the torture, violence and systematic brutalisation and murder of defenceless Semitic people at the hands of jack-booted fascist b*stards, that is heart-wrenching. However a week’s holiday in a bed and breakfast of your choice in Gaza city will allow you to see the same thing in real time and they don’t charge an entrance fee.

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                                                            • At 2006.07.20 07:52, Edward McD said:

                                                              Getting back to the point, I see Lord Levy has been dishing out honours to some of his staff.

                                                              Surprising John Prescott didn’t think of that little wheeze as an incentive for alternative activities.

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                                                              • At 2006.07.20 07:53, Edward McD said:

                                                                All in the best possible taste of course.

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                                                                • At 2006.07.20 09:37, raincoaster said:

                                                                  Apparently, when the media asked her what she got it for she said it was a total surprise and she couldn’t remember what it was for. Later, after no doubt consulting with a spin control specialist, she said she’d been very active in Jewish charities for over a decade.

                                                                  Funny how that just slipped her mind, eh?

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                                                                  • At 2006.07.20 09:40, raincoaster said:

                                                                    Oh yes, one more thing. Nobody on this blog has been censored for questions of taste, as I aught to know.

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                                                                    • At 2006.07.20 10:12, Jack Ramsey said:

                                                                      Dr. Prion

                                                                      Since I don’t approve of religious states I guess I am actually anti-Zionist. However I support the right of the state of Israel to exist in the current situation.

                                                                      Do I have an irrational fear of Islam? I talk to Muslims most days and I can make a case for not having an irrational fear of Muslims. I think I have a rational suspicion of all religions, including Marxism and its twin fascism.

                                                                      Looks like the walking holiday we planned isn’t on any longer Doc!

                                                                      To all the other more vehmently anti-Zionist of you: the quips are ‘clever’

                                                                      “What’s the dead terrorist count?”
                                                                      “Twenty dead terrorists in the last round, sir.”
                                                                      “Excellent.”
                                                                      “Five dead terrorist men, five dead terrorist women, and ten dead terrorist babies.”

                                                                      but irony is not necessarily truth seeking.

                                                                      My very own quip.

                                                                      Just becuse you are anti-Zionist does not mean that you are not anti-Jewish.

                                                                      I may be a tedious old would be pedant but as far as I am aware there is no use for expletives in first order logic. Why do they make cases better? It shows no greater commitment to use them.

                                                                      Competition time:

                                                                      Finish off the following poem.

                                                                      Oh Dr. Prion
                                                                      Has gone to Zion
                                                                      …………..

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                                                                      • At 2006.07.20 10:55, jaq said:

                                                                        Aurthur Mellor – most interesting comment Sir.

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                                                                        • At 2006.07.20 11:23, Philomon Ndebele said:

                                                                          “Just becuse you are anti-Zionist does not mean that you are not anti-Jewish.” (Jack Ramsey)

                                                                          Couldn’t agree more. My brother (converted to Judaism) and my sister-in-law (Jewish) and their kids have never persecuted anyone (as far as I know anyway). And we are all on the most cordial terms even, remarkably, on the issue of Zionism.

                                                                          There’s a very simple reason for this curious concensus: the creation of the state of Israel and the behaviour of this nation over the past sixty years is indefensible. Just like apartheid and the holocaust.

                                                                          I hope it’s only a matter of time before Israel is dismantled and the occupants of the territory understand that they are not surrounded by moslem aggressors, but human beings who share the same fundamental aspirations and desires. What’s so hard about that?

                                                                          They have created the monster they currently face entirely themselves and, unless they change their ways, it will, one way or another, consume them utterly.

                                                                          P.S. Musharra Amedin, you aren’t doing anyone any favours with that sort of attitude pal.

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                                                                          • At 2006.07.20 11:40, Jack Ramsey said:

                                                                            Philomon Ndebele
                                                                            I’m not sure you counted the nots but never mind.

                                                                            I think we’ll have to both go away and have a think old pal.

                                                                            “the creation of the state of Israel and the behaviour of this nation over the past sixty years is indefensible. Just like apartheid and the holocaust.

                                                                            Israel is in no way comparable to apartheid SA where racialism was enshrined in the constitution. I have already mentioned my objection to religious states but as far as I know there is no constitutional bar on people of different religions and ethnicities rising to any position in Israel.

                                                                            Of course even that absurd comparison pales before comparing the behaviour of Isarael to Nazi Germany. However as a dull old plonker I guess I should not criticise others’ rich fantasy lives.

                                                                            I could be very wrong of course so I will have a think.

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                                                                            • At 2006.07.20 13:42, Philomon Ndebele said:

                                                                              “…apartheid SA where racialism was enshrined in the constitution” (Jack Ramsey)

                                                                              Ohhhh I see!! So the only mistake South Africa actually made was to write it down. How stupid of me. All they had to do was to move all the wogs into the Bantu homelands like Swaziland and Bophupatswana and no one would have minded at all about the institutional racism in the government.

                                                                              Thanks for pointing that out to me Jack, I’m eternally in your debt.

                                                                              And you are correct, I did miss the extra ‘not’, I thought perhaps you’d enjoyed a moment of lucidity in your dotage.

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                                                                              • At 2006.07.20 16:12, Gerald Norley-Thumbwhisker said:

                                                                                [Ed: deleted - unacceptable comment]

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                                                                                • At 2006.07.20 16:22, Edward McD said:

                                                                                  What a strange person.

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                                                                                  • At 2006.07.20 16:43, Edward McD said:

                                                                                    “Finish off the following poem.” (Jack Ramsey)

                                                                                    “Dr Prion went to Zion in a shower of nukes.
                                                                                    He stepped in a crater and died sometime later
                                                                                    his coffin is next to Farouk’s”

                                                                                    Do I get a present?

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                                                                                    • At 2006.07.20 19:10, Ape said:

                                                                                      SCUM

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                                                                                      • At 2006.07.21 08:31, Jack Ramsey said:

                                                                                        Edward McD

                                                                                        Only my undying esteem i’m afraid. Possibly Melissa could help….

                                                                                        Philomon

                                                                                        Quit the quipper aren’t you but it brings a smile to an dotard’s face. Have a nice weekend and don’t talk to any strange old men!

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                                                                                        • At 2006.07.21 08:34, Jack Ramsey said:

                                                                                          Gerald Norley-Thumbwhisker

                                                                                          Be nervous, be very nervous. I understand that the Turner Prize Committee are investigating you for plagiarism.

                                                                                          Philomon

                                                                                          Apologies

                                                                                          Should have been Quite not Quit. You must never quit.

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                                                                                          • At 2006.07.21 17:40, idlex said:

                                                                                            The editorial in the Spectator of 22 July, titled “Let Israel finish the job” rambles on and on, and finally terminates:

                                                                                              What the Islamists dread is a clear decision by the international community to let the Israelis finish the job, eradicate as much of the Hezbollah machine as possible, and then – and only then – resume the painful process of transforming Lebanon into a tolerable neighbour.

                                                                                            Over a week after this conflict began, Israel seems to have made little progress in eradicating the Hezbollah machine, given that Hezbollah rockets are still landing on Haifa and other parts of Israel. The Israeli military seems strangely ineffective in suppressing these attacks.

                                                                                            And how’s progress going on the other front, the transforming-Lebanon-into-a-tolerable-neighbour bit? Well, Israel has demolished entire districts of Beirut, bombed bridges, airports, petrol stations, roads, power stations, killing over 300 Lebanese civilians, and displacing 500,000 people. It’s rather hard to see how this serves to transform Lebanon into a ‘tolerable neighbour’. If anything, it looks like a good way to create another bunch of intolerable enemies.

                                                                                            At this rate, when the ‘job’ is ‘finished’, Israel will end up surrounded not by tolerable neighbours, but by a subcontinent of sworn enemies. By every measure, the Israeli response of the past week has to be counted as not just a failure, but a disastrous failure.

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                                                                                            • At 2006.07.21 22:28, Melissa said:

                                                                                              Jack R -

                                                                                              Yes – all of our undying esteem!

                                                                                              Do you think he deserves something – quite a quick wit heh? that’s what we want to promote so perhaps….

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                                                                                              • At 2006.07.22 09:59, Jack Ramsey said:

                                                                                                Melissa

                                                                                                Perhaps there ought to be a special prize for with without obscenity.

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                                                                                                • At 2006.07.22 19:40, jaq said:

                                                                                                  Melissa – I think Jack Ramsey should win prizes for just being Jack Ramsey: witty, pertinent, well informed and well written.

                                                                                                  I would have included fabulous but my courage failed me. (sigh) Always the way isn’t it?

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                                                                                                  • At 2006.07.23 15:16, Jack Ramsey said:

                                                                                                    Aw! Gee jaq!

                                                                                                    Kind words are prize enough even though unearned!

                                                                                                    Fabulous as in mythical?

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                                                                                                    • At 2006.07.23 15:47, jaq said:

                                                                                                      You’re married sweetie, let’s not define ‘fabulous’.
                                                                                                      Anyway, I’m feeling penned in at the moment – I don’t want any reminders of what else I might be missing. Let me just concentrate on pacing my cage like an injured lioness. Grrrrrrrrrr

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