A reply from the bubble.

The Westminster bubble that is.

I posted the below paragraph translated into Afrikaans (My son’s partner is fluent in the language. Hi Rialette), into a post at the beginning of the month, in reaction to this article in the Mail.

The Coalition is reviving Labour's ill-fated scheme to snoop on all British citizens online – despite the fact that it was opposed by Liberal Democrats and Conservatives when in Opposition.

All conversations over the Internet and e-mails can be recorded if the government is planning a massive expansion in surveillance.
The coalition is reviving Labour's ill-fated scheme to snoop on all UK citizens online - despite the fact that it was opposed by liberal and conservative while in opposition.
Internet service providers will be required to keep records of all e-mail messages on social networking sites and talks about Skype.
The content of the calls or messages will be recorded, but the authorities will have a court order to obtain if they want to hear or read the contents.
However, the police and security will be able to access details of the communication between and what time they occur without a court order demanding.

In the mail when I returned home today I found that I had received a reply to a letter that I had penned to my MP, about the above.

Dear Mr Filthy Engineer,

many thanks for your letter of April 3 letting me know of your concerns about the Government’s policy on surveillance.

My understanding is that the Government may be back tracking on the proposals put forward. I am nonetheless going to put your concerns directly to the Home Secretary whom I have asked for the latest position as far as the Government is concerned on it’s proposals in this important area.

I shall be writing to you again when I receive this reply.

I wonder what the further letter will hold.

 

I’m glad I’m now able to post from a computer rather than a smart phone.

Warning. Radiation & DIY.

I took my son to the hospital today to have his thyroid scanned for any cancerous nodules. On Wednesday he was given a dose of radioactive iodine and today he was scanned to see what would show up.

Interestingly he managed to get the scan pics onto his phone, and they make interesting viewing. It would appear that he has a small spot on his neck which would indicate that the last radiotherapy treatment may not have been one hundred percent effective.

Well we'll just have to see what the oncologist has to say.

One of the problems which you don't read about is that before he has the tests or treatments, he has to come off his medication for a couple of weeks beforehand. This leaves him with very little energy.

Mind you, It seems to coincide with the DIY joblist I get handed every time I go up there!

Just joking Chris. (I know you'll read this).

Behind closed doors.

I've been to supermarkets since the ruling came into hiding tobacco from plain view. Although the tobacco control lobby has always iterated it is all for the "Sake of the children", we all know that they just want denormalise smokers. The aim was to see lengthy queues of disgruntled smokers lining up in frustration to buy their packet of 20, and quitting in frustration.

This morning I saw the solution in action. Instead of buying a pack, everyone in the queue bought in bulk.

So stuff you Lansley and tobacco control.

Sorry for the poor quality and brevity of my posts, but not having access to my computer, I'm trying to get to grips with writing posts from my smartphone.

He's glowing.

As I type this by the green glow emanating from my radioactive son I wonder what the future will hold?

When I was younger, it was an indisputable fact that lung cancer was caused by the nicotine in tobacco products. Later this morphed into tar being the cause. Now it is other chemicals that are the killer.

I'm now seeing the same type of science being practised in the climate change debate.

Have we lost real science discipline in a search for a quick fix?

After all stomach ulcers for years were deemed to be caused by stress and dissenters vilfied. This illness was subsequently found to be caused by a bacterium.

Can science by concensus work, or is it killing millions?

I'm away.

Blogging will be light. I'm away at my son's place. He's having a radioactive scan to ascertain if he has any cancerous nodules left from his lastb treatment.

Stunning display

Now the aircraft are not ours, (Have we any?) but you have to admire this air force for this stunning display of aerial hardware in action.

Watch in full screen mode to capture the full mood of the piece.

#freethebexleyone

I see that the Ollie Cromwell case has just hit the MSM. In the case of the Daily Fail, only online. Bit slow as this has been blogged and tweeted since Friday.

Freedom of speech row over blogger who faces jail for calling councillor a c*** on Twitter

I wonder if this man will get charged with the same?

I doubt it.

Here is all the facts in case you missed them

Helping those in need.

As I walked down a busy street, knowing I was late for Church, my  eye fell upon one of those unfortunate, homeless vagabonds (you  know, tattered clothing, long hair etc) that are found in every town  these days.

Some people turned to stare. Others quickly looked away as if  the sight would somehow contaminate them.

Recalling my old parish Vicar, The reverent Mike, who always  admonished me to 'care for the sick, feed the hungry and clothe the  naked,' I was moved by some powerful inner urge to reach out to this  unfortunate person.

Wearing what can only be described as rags, carrying every  worldly possession in two plastic bags, my heart was touched by this  person's condition.

Yes, where some people saw only rags, I saw a true, hidden  beauty.
A small voice inside my head called out, 'Reach out, reach out  and touch this person!'

 

 

 

 

So I did......

 

I won't be in Church next week....

C*nts

I’m copying the entire post from Dioclese’s blog.

In an episode that would not be out of place in Orwell's 1984, Bexley Council have persued a prosecution of blogger Ollie Cromwell for calling one of their councillors a c*nt on Twitter.
The so-called 'c*ntgate affair' came about as a result of Ollie tweeting that he thought one of their councillors was a c*nt. Now if you honestly hold an opinion and believe it to be true, then you can't prosecuted successfully for libel or slander, but apparently if you express an opinion on Twitter then you can be found guilty under section 127 of the Communications Act of 2003 for using an offensive word - which is what has happened to Ollie.

More worryingly, the judiciary failed to kick this trumped up piece of crap into touch thus signalling what has been suggested in some circles as 'the herald of the death of free speech'.

Clearly, Bexley councillors are a touchy lot. I refer readers to a tweet posted under #freethebexleyone where @cjmillsnun says 'I am an elected councillor. As long as I'm not being harassed, residents can call me names if they want'. Well said, they man!!
There's an old saying that if you can't stand the heat, then get out of the kitchen. Perhaps councillors at Bexley should take this to heart. You are, after all, elected to serve the wishes of the people. Now admittedly, people can be right c*nts but you knew that when you took the job on.

What you are not there for is to offer yourself up for self-aggrandisement and to set the thought police on your electorate.
Bexley Council are asking the judge to impose a 180 day custodial sentence on Ollie. By my reckoning this is therefore deemed to be more serious than causing death by dangerous driving where you can get off with less than this.

And while we're on the subject, guess where this prosecution was brought? Yep, Bexley - so clearly no chance whatsoever of any undue influence or bias in the proceedings at all, is there?
Surely, only a c*nt would suggest otherwise..

More HERE and HERE and HERE. And now HERE

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