Sorry for Nick Griffin?

Image by Rex Chen via Flickr

The furore over BNP leader Nick Griffin’s appearance on BBC TV’s ‘Question Time’ shows no sign of abating. I have to say, I knew very little about Nick Griffin or his past comments before the show. What surprised me was how much the ordinary people in the street who were interviewed knew about him and them. I suspect most people are just regurgitating a mish-mash of news coverage and comment and are passing them off as their own.

We cannot allow ourselves to play the game of banning people like this from airing their views – to be agreed with or disagreed with, however near-the-knuckle they may be.

The trouble is, however distasteful and upsetting, people like Nick Griffin probably suspect that a large, soggy, wet blanket of political correctness has been dumped on Britain whereby many ordinary people, mostly the white underclass, are terrified to say what what they really feel. So there could be a festering, deeply bitter and emotional resentment about the way they see what they regard as ‘their’ country simmering deep within the English psyche. One day it may explode and play into the hands of parties such as the BNP.

Checks on adults supervising children

I must join the ranks of the voices raised against the plans and the new quango set up to bring tighter controls and background checks on people who have more than a passing contact with children other than their own. I do not believe there are paedophiles lurking behind every tree although I concede sensible precautions must be taken with people working directly with children at schools, sports clubs and the like.

Children and young people will eventually be the sufferers if they are molly coddled and protected the point of being unable to play and enjoy life, nature, the countryside and our towns with a degree of unrestriction. It will also become a point of leverage as smart youngsters ask any helpful stranger if they have been vetted. If not, the implication is that they could be dangerous in some way. If I saw a child in trouble I would try to help without thinking if I was breaking some law or other and could be fined £5,000. At least the outpouring of criticism has resulted in the head of the quango (do we really need another one with spending cuts on the way) taking a backward step by saying that the, no doubt, endless series of meetings, seminars and conferences that will undoubtedly ensue will take a sensible look at the situation to make it clear that we won’t all be painted with the paedophile brush.

On this subject, does this affect a group of mums organising a school run rota? If not, what would happen if a dad deputised? Would he be at risk while the wives were not?

Husbands and wives

Rodney Dangerfield
A good wife always forgives her husband when she’s wrong.

Image via Wikipedia

David Bissonette
When a man steals your wife, there is no better revenge than to let him keep her.

Sacha Guitry
After marriage, husband and wife become two sides of a coin; they just can’t face each other, but still they stay together.

Socrates
By all means marry. If you get a good wife, you’ll be happy. If you get a bad one, you’ll become a philosopher.

Anonymous
Woman inspires us to great things, and prevents us from achieving them.

Dumas
The great question… which I have not been able to answer… is, “What does a woman want?

Sigmund Freud
I had some words with my wife, and she had some paragraphs with me.

Anonymous
“Some people ask the secret of our long marriage. We take time to go to a restaurant two times a week. A little candlelight, dinner, soft music and dancing. She goes Tuesdays, I go Fridays.”

Sam Kinison
“There’s a way of transferring funds that is even faster than electronic banking. It’s called marriage.”

James Holt McGavran
“I’ve had bad luck with both my wives. The first one left me, and the second one didn’t.”

Patrick Murray
Two secrets to keep your marriage brimming
1. Whenever you’re wrong, admit it,
2. Whenever you’re right, shut up.

Nash
The most effective way to remember your wife’s birthday is to forget it once…

Anonymous
You know what I did before I married? Anything I wanted to.

Henny Youngman
My wife and I were happy for twenty years. Then we met.

Anonymous
A man inserted an ‘ad’ in the classifieds: “Wife wanted”. Next day he received a hundred letters. They all said the same thing: “You can have mine.”

Anonymous
First Guy (proudly): “My wife’s an angel!”
Second Guy: “You’re lucky, mine’s still alive.”

Joined the Twitter generation and trying to work it out

Image by luc legay via Flickr

I have been a trifle late getting on board the Twitter bandwagon. I am not sure I can be bothered with Facebook or MySpace. People say they are good for business but I think you’d have to spend an inordinate amount of time tweeting and pasting and commenting etc to get anywhere.

Anyway, do join me on twitter

Socializer – free automatic social bookmark submission

Socializer – free automatic social bookmark submission.

£1m to walk in the countryside

I was staggered to hear that the UK Lottery Fund is to make £1m available to be spent on encouraging ethnic minorities to experience the British countryside – walks, treks, exploration and all that goes with it – weather and all. I am all for everyone enjoying the countryside but why pick on ethnic minorities? There are quite a percentage of indigenous Brits who never set foot on a blade of free growing grass, climbed mountains and strolled along river banks in the wild. When you add that to the expected cuts in public spending, the inherent greed of the moneymakers, bankers and dealers with only their personal bank balances in mind, then there must be better things to spend £1m on.

I can see no earthly reason why a member of any ethnic minority cannot find the countryside, waymarked walks, shops where they can buy maps all by themselves. Why do they need lottery funding to do this? It is just another example of the crass stupidity of the political correct generation that have steadily eroded all our personal drive and ingenuity. Spend the money on something worthwhile.

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• Holiday lottery rules ‘not clear’ (news.bbc.co.uk)

Religious fundamentalism – Shit happens!

According to:

TAOISM

Shit happens

BUDDHISM

If shit happens, it isn’t really shit

HINDUISM

This shit has happened before

ISLAM

If shit happens it is the will of Allah

CATHOLICISM

Shit happens because you deserve it

PROTESTANTISM

Let shit happen to somebody else

JUDAISM

Why does shit always happen to us?

Aspiring TV and film writers summer school

Image by elycefeliz via Flickr

The TAPS summer school still has places left for aspiring UK-based screen and TV writers.

360° Commissioning with Gina Fegan, Chief Executive of the SEMN.

· Comedy – TV Sitcom Workshop with Charles Garland, “Allo Allo”, “Dad’s Army”, “Hi-De-Hi”, Paul Mendleson “May to December”, “My Hero”  and comedy veteran Steve Nallon.  Have 5 pages of your own TV sitcom idea read by professional actors.

· Writing for Games with leading games writers James Swallow “Deus Ex 3”, “Battlestar Galactica”, “Killzone 2”, “Star Trek Invasion” and Andy Walsh “Risen, Prince of Persia” “Heavenly Sword”, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”

· Beyond the Usual Suspects – Criminology & Character Creation Workshop Find out how to write convincing characters with “The Bill” Writer Stuart Morris and former Detective Chief Inspector Jackie Malton, the inspiration for DCI Tennison in “Prime Suspect” and long term story consultant on “The Bill”.

· Screaming ‘Blue Murder’ – TV Drama Series Workshop Meet the “Blue Murder” team – Producer Mike Dormer, Writer Neil Jones and Script Editor Hayley McKenzie who will take you, step by step, through the process of turning a one line idea into an episode of the popular ITV1 show Blue Murder.  This is Blue Murder Boot Camp!

· Persuasive Storytelling – Southerndown, South Wales (2 Days) TAPS veteran Writer/Director Sam Snape will take you through all the forms of screen storytelling from the 30 second commercial to the feature script. You will be shown what is message-driven, what is pure art and what will actually make someone want to watch the finished film.

*For more details on each workshop visit our website – www.tapsnet.org http://www.tapsnet.org

The Capitalists Tale – timely short story

I am indebted to an old friend and relative for this timely tale of capitalist ingenuity.

Heidi is the proprietor of a bar in Detroit. She realizes that virtually all of her customers are unemployed alcoholics and, as such, can no longer afford to patronize her bar. To solve this problem, she comes up with new marketing plan that allows her customers to drink now, but pay later.

The Torment of Saint Anthony- naked truth

Just heard the news that an original painting by Michaelangelo, ‘The Torment Of Saint Anthony’ is going on show in New York.
A quickie: when I was growing in Ireland and the UK it was common to say a quick prayer to St Anthony if you had lost something.
It was just “Saint Anthony guide me”. It seemed to work.