You and Yours is one of several Radio 4 programmes that still have Reithian values embedded within and earlier this week they had a useful and timely piece on “Not Going To University”

On Call You and Yours we’ll be asking do you need to go to university to be successful? More than four hundred thousand students are just starting their new courses across the country, and have committed to spend at least three years and in the region of fifty thousand pounds in getting a degree. But is university the only path to getting solid qualifications? If you didn’t apply or didn’t get in, are you left feeling flat and directionless?

Increasing graduate unemployment and dumbed down degree courses have made a mockery of the “50% at university” pimped by the Blair drones who never really left student politics. So a serious attempt to remove “not going to uni” as a badge of shame is to be welcomed.

Overall there was a great deal of common sense in the programme. But in the course of the broadcast when somebody advised going out and doing any job rather than waiting for something “suitable” one of the presenters agreed about working in a supermarket or McDonalds until something “worthwhile comes along”

Now that is rather odd when you realise that companies in the supermarket and fast food areas are doing very well and are major employers. Retail is also one of the few areas where it is still possible to rise quickly through the ranks via enthusiasm and hard graft without an initial fistful of paper “qualifications”. It is also an honest way of earning money to pay the bills.

But the BBC has always had a rather aristocratic disdain for “trade” and shopkeepers because that is the feeling of the media demi-monde that inhabits and controls the organisation. Selling is a grubby little business in their opinion whereas “making” things is godlike, hence their idealisation of manufacturing, ignoring the fact that stuff is useless unless it’s sold.

That, of course, was the mistake made by the communists who ruled Russia for over seventy years. Lenin and Stalin were so obsessed with production that they forgot that the goods and the crops also had to be distributed. Transport networks and retail systems were neglected – the USSR was always a logistical nightmare.

The result? Goods stockpiled at chokepoints and zero choice for consumers who were therefore forced into buying crap products.

Maybe I can draw a more clearer picture – Thatcher losing in 1983 and Britain under Michael Foot during the 80s = British Leyland cars and BT still dictating who could have a phone…

How about we put it another way to You and Yours?

Not going to uni but you need to earn money but nothing suitable in the pipeline? You could always fill in the time in at the BBC until you got something worthwhile at Tesco or McDonalds…

H/T for pic…SodaHead

The fearless BBC is never afraid to grasp nettles…

Social services and police “missed opportunities” to stop the sexual abuse of young girls in Rochdale, a report into a grooming scandal has revealed.
……………………………………………………..
It comes after nine men were jailed in May for grooming girls as young as 13.

Oh and why were these opportunities missed?

“Deficiencies” and “patchy” training of front line staff were behind the failings, the Rochdale Borough Safeguarding Children Board said in its review of child sexual exploitation.

Ah, the old patchy training ploy, as Inspector Cluseau would say…but never fear

Lynne Jones, chair of the Rochdale Borough Safeguarding Children Board, said the council had “responded” to the review and had “improvements” had already been put in place.

That’s right, somebody wheeled out the same robot that was constructed in 1973, called it Lynne Jones, and pressed the button marked “LESSONS LEARNED”

“…working together….sharing information….raising awareness…..staff traing…..”

Only deep down towards the end of the piece, however, does the “fearless” BBC offer up a “by the way, please move along, nothing to see here” factoid

During the trial there were demonstrations by far-right groups after it emerged that white girls were being exploited by the gang, eight of whom were of Pakistani origin, with another from Afghanistan.

OMG – those crazy “far-right” groups with their racist agenda….take to the hills……oh, wait a minute

However, Greater Manchester Police said that there was no racial element to the case. It said that the main issue was older men exploiting vulnerable young women and girls.

Phew, that’s a relief. It wasn’t because of their cultural background….it was because they were “older men”. It’s not race/culture – it’s age/gender.

Julie Bindel, however, took a different view

One youth worker in south Yorkshire told me that because religious Muslims are being pressurised to marry virgins within their own extended family networks, it means that some are more likely to view white girls as easily available and “safer” than Pakistani girls.

Moreover, she felt that the reluctance of Social Services, Police and CPS to act in these cases wasn’t really down to lack of training or “working together” – but fear of being accused of being racist. This allowed the BNP to hijack the issue which obviously made it even more toxic. Now, of course, some people are speaking out…but why were they silent for so many years?

Anna Hall made a documentary for Channel 4 about Bradford Social Services which included interviews with two mothers who said their teenage daughters were being groomed.

The explosive grooming story nearly didn’t make the shortlist. Hall had already filmed several other stories through the children’s department which she was unable to screen for legal reasons. “We weren’t looking for this issue,” she says. “It just kept surfacing. Social workers said, ‘You can’t do that story because it’s too difficult.’ What did they mean by ‘too difficult’? Too racially sensitive?”

The BNP made a big deal of this film, seeing it as a vindication. Channel 4 got cold feet, especially as the Chief Constable of West Yorkshire spearheaded a campaign to stop it being shown.

So it does seem that one thing that motivated the various agencies to keep this in the Pending file was the fear of being accused of racism even though there were clearly people in the Muslim community who were confronting it.

There are, however, a growing number of individuals within the Muslim communities who are willing to speak out against the criminals. Mohammed Shafiq, the director of the Lancashire-based Ramadhan Foundation, a charity working for peaceful harmony between different ethnic communities, advocates better education about sexual exploitation to be disseminated through imams and other community leaders.
“I was one of the first within the Muslim community to speak out about this, four years ago,” says Shafiq, “and at the time I received death threats from some black and Asian people. But what I said has been proved right — that if we didn’t tackle it there would be more of these abusers and more girls getting harmed.”

But there also appears to be another factor which pushed it down the agenda, according to the Telegraph

Police said the victims were from “chaotic”, “council estate” backgrounds and as many as 50 girls could have been victims of the gang.

That explains it, then – not nice little middle class girls from the suburbs or twee villages. Chief Constables would scarcely get into their golf clubs before being badgered by “concerned” members of the public. But “white trash” from those chavvy council estates….maybe they were, y’know, asking for it?

No wonder these evil men were happy in their work. Their culturally influenced disparagement of these girls was buttressed by the prejudices of officialdom against the Sharon’s and Tracey’s of the white working class..

A self fulfilling prophecy if ever there was one…..

The Queen wanted to know why Abu Hamza was allowed to remain in the UK spewing his hate for this country while being subsidised by taxpayers.

“She spoke to the home secretary at the time and said, surely this man must have broken some laws. Why is he still at large? He was conducting these radical activities and he called Britain a toilet. He was incredibly anti-British and yet he was sucking up money from this country for a long time. He was a huge embarrassment to Muslims, who condemned him.”

So do we ma’am, so do we.

Well now even the grand panjandrums at the highest level of the European court have told us it’s OK to extradite him to the USA.

How kind of them.

Now all the lawyers are happy (and richer), the bleeding hearts cannot accuse us of ignoring the bar of world opinion, the race relations/human rights lobby must grit their teeth and pretend to be content and this vile, revolting quivering jelly of hatred and venom is on his way to America to face his accusers in court.

Except not yet

The European Court has now ruled that these men can be extradited as well, but the Home Office can only say it will happen “as soon as possible” at some unspecified point in the future.

Why the hell do we have to wait? Why can’t he be placed on a plane tomorrow and flown across the Atlantic? Isn’t there anybody in this government with a spine?

On second thoughts that’s a stupid question. The spine was removed from our government on November 28th 1990 and has never been replaced.

No wonder these extremists despise us…

….and what sort of signal does it give to those many British Muslims who are battling to show that they can maintain their faith and remain true and loyal citizens of the UK?

But of course there’s nothing new about the spinelessness of western governments…

I’m in my 70s and remember skating round to this at Brixton Roller Rink (long gone) when I was a teenager, trying to impress the girls – and someone else was also probably checking out the talent at the same time across the ocean…

I’m 68 and this is my favorite R’ n R’ instrumental of all time. Reminds me of Bond’s Ice Cream parlor back in 1957 in Cedar Grove, NJ where I spent more time than I did in my own home.

Plonking around on an acoustic guitar at home trying to copy the guitar solo (and failing miserably) I remember thinking if you can play guitar like this then you can call yourself a guitarist…

So, anyone remember “Honky Tonk” by the Bill Doggett combo? It was a massive hit in 1956 but seems to have fallen down the memory hole which is a pity because, in my opinion, it contains not one but two of the greatest instrumental solos ever – Billy Butler on guitar followed by Clifford Scott on tenor sax. Never tire of listening to them and every time I get that tingle at the back of my neck.

Of course you’ll never find it on any “great guitar solo” lists since those lists usually assume that rock music only began in 1965. Why? Because that’s when “rock journalists” appeared so increasingly the first decade of rock and roll is just forgotten….

“Honky Tonk” was conceived by Clifford Scott and Billy Butler (who played guitar in Doggett’s combo) in an informal hotel room jam session before a dance in Lima, Ohio. That night, on stage and without rehearsal, Butler told Bill Doggett and drummer Shep Shepherd to “just play a shuffle” and when they got through the people started to applaud. They wouldn’t get off the dance floor, they just continued to stand there and appalud “more, more, more..”. So they did it again, played some other tunes and had an intermission, and when they came back the audience started yelling “We wanna hear that tune!”. And they didn’t even have a name for it. When the band got back to New York, they set up a recording session with a studio down on 31st Street. The engineer turned the machine on, he goes out to take a smoke – he wasn’t regulating the controls, he wasn’t doing anything – and Doggett’s band went on and just played. When they started to stop, he said “Keep it up!”, which they did and that’s how it became a two-sided record. “Honky Tonk”, parts 1 & 2, went to # 2 on the pop charts and # 1 on the R&B charts in 1956. Writing credit goes to B. Doggett, S. Shepherd, C. Scott and B. Butler.

BTW…if you fancy trying that Billy Butler solo you might find this useful…

I have no sympathy for Tory Chief Whip Andrew Mitchell in the ongoing “Plebs” row. I still think he should go but , when I read The Sun’s report quoting the official police log why did it immediately conjure up images in my mind of shady deals in pubs between hacks and coppers as a result of notes written up after conversations in the police canteen?

Of course such images only stem from memories of the “bad old days” and do not accurately reflect the relationship between police and press in the 21st century.

Not at all….

Tim Montgomerie, from ConservativeHome, his magisterial perch at the summit of Mount Olympus, has pronounced his verdict on the Andrew Mitchell “swearing at a police officer” fandango – and it appears that it’s all part of dastardly plod plot to kneecap the Cameron regime.

His focus is on the Police Federation and the Bob Crow PF spokespersons who come onto our screens and mouth toneless drivel in the same manner they might recite “evidence” in court in order to fit up some lowlife loser for an extra 156 burglaries he didn’t really do.

He implies that the PF has an agenda and are milking the Mitchell incident for all they are worth so we should accept his apology and move on because maybe Mitchell is a “bruiser” but he is a diamond geezer who is only fiery because he is passionate about his brief.

Yeah – pull the other one

If, as he left Downing Street with his bike it had suddenly dawned on him that he had behaved stupidly and gone back immediately and apologised with good grace then that might have been sufficient. But his apology only came when the situation went pear shaped and, most likely, he received a sharp phone call from Number Ten – it was therefore that classic of modern politics the gritted teeth apology mouthed unwillingly as a red hot poker hovers menacingly close to the derriere.

Of course the PF is milking it – but that doesn’t excuse Mitchell’s conduct. As one commentator said

What one member of a party said when he had a bad day couldn’t really concern me less these outbursts happen people get stressed and a dam breaks. I am glad he has apologised that is the right response and had it been in a less public instance i imagine that would be the end of it. However even he must be aware that his actions have reflected very badly with the general public and are now doing harm to both the party and its message, he shouldn’t have to be pushed out he should realise he needs to go. The fact he hasn’t and has chosen to place his self intrest above the good of the whole reflects worse on him in my book than the initial fiasco.

It also reveals the lack of sensitivity in Cameron’s political antennae. He should have immediately recognised the political/social ramifications of this incident and acted quite brutally. It would have squashed the “toff” narrative dead in the water and shown the key quality of ruthlessness that leaders must display at odd moments to instil a little fear into the lower ranks.

Not good enough, I’m afraid, Mr Montgomerie. Mitchell should disappear – and fast.

Pakistani police are probing a local businessman over alleged blasphemy. His refusal to close his shops in solidarity with demonstrators against an Islam-insulting film led to a standoff which could see him face execution or life imprisonment

As Kirsty Wark of BBC Newsnight would say – yet another of Muslims being OFFENDED and OUTRAGED, their ANGER being driven by religious fervour……(go to 22 minutes into this and watch how, when Ayaan Hirsi Ali starts wondering about the selectivity of Pakistani outrage Kirsty gets distinctly uncomfortable and quickly ends the interview)

….or maybe it’s not so much about religious fervour and more about something a tad less spiritual. The businessman owns a lot of shops in the city of Hyderabad

Police suspect that some of the complaints against Khan have been filed by other shop owners, whom the businessman threatened to evict for late payments.

That’s the advantage of a little bit of religious fervour. You can gain some celestial credit for the afterlife and settle a few old scores at the same time.

Job done…..

Whisk evaporated milk and sugar together for approximately 10 minutes until light and fluffy and coffee coloured. Pour the mixture into a pastry case. Bake for 10 minutes.

Who would have guessed that, with just a tin of evaporated milk, twelves ounces of muscovada sugar and a bit of shortcrust pastry you would be able to transport yourself a few decades back to those days in school when you had no greater concern than working out some excuse for not doing the maths homework and/or worrying about your spots.

Yes, folks – it’s the golden talisman that brings a positive glow to the school memories of anyone over thirty…..Gypsy Tart…..the ultimate in food porn.

I have yet to meet the person whose eyes do not half close with pleasure at the mere mention of it – which is strange because, in general, school dinner memories are like dental drilling, necessary but unpleasant procedures that are best filed under F for forget. However the exception always is that combination of caramel and shortcrust pastry, accompanied with a dollop of whipped cream….pure nirvana.

What’s more GT is the kryptonite that can fend off the miserabilist fatwas of those pursed lipped food fascists whose sole purpose in life is to demonise anything that makes our existence joyful – and nothing can be guaranteed to rile them up more than the three deadly sins of evaporated milk, sugar and pastry all in one place.

As a teacher, of course, my one major perk was the pleasure of regularly feasting on gypsy tart for the entirety of my adult working life – and gloating over my non teaching friends as I reminded them of what they were missing by relating this little anecdote from my own experience.

Many years ago, while teaching a class of twelve year olds about the ancient Greeks (are children taught that stuff any more?) I was telling them about the gods and goddesses who the Greeks believed dwelt upon Mount Olympus and their diet of ambrosia and nectar, the food and drink of the gods. Someone asked if we knew what those substances were. I replied we did not know but maybe they were based on honey since they were supposed to be very sweet.
Wayne put up his hand and said if that was the case then he knew what the food of the gods really was…..”Gypsy Tart” said he.
The rest of the class laughed but I caught Wayne’s eye and nodded…”you know, Wayne, I think you could be right…..”

So, for those of you who would either recapture your school days or share your lunch box with the a god and a goddess this is a very sensible recipe – and, for the mavericks, here is one of the wittiest “how to do it” food pieces I have ever read…

BTW 01 – for any of my US friends – over here anything in a pastry case not topped with pastry we call a TART…if it is covered with pastry we call it a PIE….just sayin’

BTW 02 – do schools serve gypsy tart any more?

Two years ago UKIP leader and MEP Nigel Farage was fairly blunt with Herman Van Rompuy, the Belgian who was chosen by Eurocrats to be the “President” of the EU

I’m sorry but… and I don’t want to be rude, but you know really, you have the charisma of a damp rag and the appearance of a low-grade bank clerk,’ he said.
‘I sense though that you’re competent and capable and dangerous, and I have no doubt that it’s your intention to be the quiet assassin of European democracy and the European nation state.
‘You appear to have a loathing for the very concept of the existence of nation states – perhaps that’s because you come from Belgium which of course is pretty much a non-country.’

He has been fined 3,000 euros for being “rude”. But I think you need to place his comments in context. Farage, like many of us, believes that Eurocrats like Van Rompuy treat us with the aloof contempt of the privileged bureaucrat safely embedded in an unelected sinecure and confident that the great project of increasing the power of a self selected elite will grind remorselessly on come hell or high water.

Hence his ploy is to fight contempt with contempt – and the growth in support for UKIP in Britain appears to signal that a lot of us are beginning to feel the same way.

Note, however, that the UK media has been silent about this EU hit on Farage – the story comes from the US edition of the Daily Mail…could it be that our masters have decided to silence Farage by ignoring him?

I think we should be told…

While he was leader of the opposition David Cameron promised that once in power a Conservative government would introduce a law pledging that 0.7% of all government spending would go each year to foreign aid. He also promised a referendum on membership of the EU. That one slipped quickly down the memory hole once he entered number 10 – but the foreign aid commitment remained solid. It hasn’t yet been passed into law but, alongside the NHS, the Department for International Development’s budget remained ring fenced while everything else was being sliced.

It really sums up the essence of Cameron and his friends in the metropolitan cabal who took over the party once he was elected. At heart, though they profess Tory “values”, they yearn for the approval of the UK’s cultural elite whose house magazine is The Guardian and whose chuch is the BBC.

Foreign aid paid for out of our taxes has never been particularly popular with most people. Private donations, however, have always been a different matter. Over the last few decades foreign aid charities like Oxfam & Save The Children have benefited enormously from the generosity of private individuals. As a result such institutions have experienced massive growth until we are now faced with a foreign aid industry handling billions of pounds and employing tens of thousands of people on an increasingly professional basis – and like any other industry they have an interest in constant expansion.

That was fine until, like everyone else, the charity industry was hit by the recession. Oxfam and company were now having to compete in a shrinking market. Thousands of managers and executives who were earning +50k salaries became very nervous and saw the Cameron commitment as their lifeline. Which is why they will be spinning furiously in the face of current concerns about the amount of taxpayers money being pumped into foreign aid and, much closer to the nerve, serious questioning of the raison d’etre for foreign aid in the first place.

After years of being Teflon the whole purpose of foreign aid is coming under the microscope – the six figure salaries, the grandiose offices, the bonuses and perks and, above all, the industry’s efficiency and effectiveness.

Far from helping the poorest, he said, ‘aid corrodes civil society and encourages corruption and conflict’ in poor countries. He added: ‘While we fund schools and hospitals, rulers can steal from state coffers or spend huge sums on arms, then win elections using bribery, coercion or violence.’
Developing countries wanted ‘tourism and trade, not dollops of aid’, he said, urging Miss Greening to scrap the ‘neo-colonial’ approach to the world.
He said: ‘You cannot build democracy on other people’s money … By doling out vast sums to often dubious foreign regimes, we ensure they have less need to respond to their citizens’ needs.

And with all that money being hosed into the trough there are plenty of snouts getting stuck in and greedy for more

With the huge aid monies swirling around, all those involved — politicians, consultants, charities, think-tanks, even many journalists — have a shared interest in hiding uncomfortable facts. As budgets have soared in recent years, the stakes have become higher. And the relationships between those feeding off the boom is looking increasingly tawdry.
This weekend it emerged that ‘poverty barons’ are making millions in consultancy fees, with half a billion pounds paid to consultants. Instead of alleviating poverty in the most hard-pressed corners of the world, money from British taxpayers is ending up in the pockets of fat cats paying themselves six-figure salaries and seven-figure bonuses

We know that the new minister, Justine Greening, saw her move from Transport to DfID as a demotion. We also know she is able and combative (she trod on quite a few bureaucratic toes at Transport) and not over keen on dishing out freebies to foreigners. Let us hope that she casts her accountant’s eye line by line over those DfID books – and spearheads a reassessment of the whole nature of DfID.