I've been to a Hustings and listened to all the candidates make their case.
First, we must remember that, nowadays, unless the subject is specialised, like the economy or law and order, national TV and radio want to talk to the Party Leader. Therefore the Leader needs to be someone the public will have an opinion about; agree or disagree with. For that, he needs to capture their attention.
Tim Congdon is untouchable in matters of the economy. He will be great as a spokesman with that kind of in-depth knowledge. Yes, he has gravitas but, sorry, coming on like a lecturer is NOT going to get people's attention.
David Campbell Bannerman, a man who likes the nitty gritty of policymaking, may charm some people but, (and this is not just my opinion) he sounds as if he is reading the telephone directory.
Winston McKenzie has a style all his own but, with the best will in the world, he has not been in the Party long and is not going to get the long-time membership onside, even those who've ever heard of him.
Frankly, only Nigel has a delivery that keeps you listening to what he is saying and not finding your attention wandering after a couple of minutes. The public know him, even non UKIP people say the only time Question Time is worth watching is when he is on the panel.
One thing that I believe Nigel has learned now, is that UKIP must grow and be structured. No more "wing and a prayer" (no pun intended) one man-show. He has the big fundraisers behind him and some very professional people in his team (as, of course, do the others). Young Independence members - enthusiastic young people, many with useful talents, who will grow with UKIP - are backing him. They know what is needed to bring in their peers.
Nigel has been there from the start, tireless and enthusiastic - yes, you might say bombastic too - but he has never publicly criticised people in the Party, whatever went on behind the scenes, even in the face of a hostile press goading him. Everything I ever heard about disunity in UKIP has come from public statements made by others who dislike him. Well, I always say you aren't a success until somebody calls you a bastard.
.
UKIP is the only place in politics for anyone who hates the EU.
It is NOT the only place if your aim, more than anything else, is to be a cabinet minister - face it, it ain't gonna happen. The EU won't let you and, even if you suck up shamelessly to the Conservatives, neither will they.
I didn't vote for Nigel when he was made Leader last time but, since then, I've come to admire him more every year, having seen our Party, and respect for it, grow exponentially.
One thing is for sure, even if he isn't elected, he won't be throwing his toys out of the pram and deserting us.
So I'M BACKING NIGEL FARAGE
Friday 15 October 2010
Tuesday 5 October 2010
Thanks, but no thanks
Dear Mr Achmed McGinty,
Thank you for your letter applying to be National Terrorist, claiming that you are able to terrorise all the people of Great Britain into submission.
Each of the actions you propose may frighten a few tourists; however, we are rather more demanding.
You say you intend to deprive us of our lives with your bombs; to make us so afraid that we won't travel, won't leave the house to get into our cars or go shopping; that we will keep our heads bowed so as not to offend you by look or action; even be afraid, in our own homes, to switch on a light or a heater.
I have to tell you, Mr Achemed McGinty that, whilst yours may be a short term solution, it is unsustainable since you will, eventually, run out of victims.
Anyway, the position of National Terrorist is already filled - by the government. It does all the things you want to do, except it doesn't bomb its victims out of existence..
Sincerely,
The People Of Great Britain
Thank you for your letter applying to be National Terrorist, claiming that you are able to terrorise all the people of Great Britain into submission.
Each of the actions you propose may frighten a few tourists; however, we are rather more demanding.
You say you intend to deprive us of our lives with your bombs; to make us so afraid that we won't travel, won't leave the house to get into our cars or go shopping; that we will keep our heads bowed so as not to offend you by look or action; even be afraid, in our own homes, to switch on a light or a heater.
I have to tell you, Mr Achemed McGinty that, whilst yours may be a short term solution, it is unsustainable since you will, eventually, run out of victims.
Anyway, the position of National Terrorist is already filled - by the government. It does all the things you want to do, except it doesn't bomb its victims out of existence..
Sincerely,
The People Of Great Britain
Monday 4 October 2010
Musings
I commented: "Genius"
He replied: "Anger"
It got me thinking.
When I am angry, I fret, fume and shout. I find anger destructive.
So Lawson, my friend, I think you created this out of frustration not anger.
Frustration - that's when you can't DO something about a situation to change it. When you want to rail against whatever it is that is unfair, unjust, downright evil. But it is a chimera; you can't get a grip on the thing to bring it down and beat it. That is what makes frustration. What CAN you do?
You can create. You create something which can fight those smokey demons on their own ground. As abstract, yet as real.
Caricatures, cartoons, satire, slogans; these have been the weapons of choice for hundreds of years.
I am very fortunate in having some very intelligent and clever "virtual friends" on facebook, with talents that I can only dream about. Their work helps me because of the emotions they arouse in me and the satisfaction it gives me in knowing that there IS a way to get back at those demons - perhaps we can't destroy them but, hell, we don't have to let them destroy US!
Lawson's artwork always hits the spot; the itch you just can't get at to scratch.
Tony the Poet and Writer. His frustration sometimes explodes in angry words and bad language but, more often, in his poems and prose which will have me crying with laughter or sadness.
Then there are the friends who will say "your frustration is pointless" or "you are looking at it in the wrong way". I used to think "don't patronise me" then I began to respect them. After all, they have a lot more experience and knowledge then me. So I learn from Julian and Helen.
As for Richard the joker- the man is a firework. Depending on his mood, he can be a sparkler, a rocket, a banger - sometimes a jumping-jack (so stay out of his way then),but never a damp squib.
Mr Toad's whimsy and Christopher's wise man.
I appreciate you all. Thanks.
Sunday 3 October 2010
Facebook Privacy
YOUR PHONE NUMBERS are NOW ON FACEBOOK!! NO JOKE...
Go to the top right of your screen,
click Account then Edit Friends.
Go to the left side of your screen and click Phonebook.
Everyone's phone numbers are now being published.
Please post on your status to let your friends know this is happening - Not
all off them but best check yours.
I would advise you to delete any phone numbers you have put in your contact info.
I've never put my phone numbers on so I've asked a friend if she can see mine there.
Will update when I find out.
##My numbers aren't there so it is people who have put theirs up on contact info or people who've used their mobile to access facebook.
Go to the top right of your screen,
click Account then Edit Friends.
Go to the left side of your screen and click Phonebook.
Everyone's phone numbers are now being published.
Please post on your status to let your friends know this is happening - Not
all off them but best check yours.
I would advise you to delete any phone numbers you have put in your contact info.
I've never put my phone numbers on so I've asked a friend if she can see mine there.
Will update when I find out.
##My numbers aren't there so it is people who have put theirs up on contact info or people who've used their mobile to access facebook.
Friday 1 October 2010
Utter, Utter Madness
This was Harriet's proudest moment. Her towering achievement, her legacy. But don't think she thought it all up with her very own little brain cell. Oh no.
Remember that quaint little old British doctrine "no Parliament may bind its successors"?
Yes, they knocked that one on the head with the Lisbon precedent, didn't they?
But then, weren't we all asked by our chums, Dave & Nick, which laws we'd like removed?
Remember how they then said "can't, won't" to everything the public suggested?
Didn't you wonder why? (Oh alright, we Ukippers didn't need to ask why)
Well there are horses, you see, ( this particular one is call Harman - so-called because it's by Harriet out of Herman ) - horses that have bolted and can't be put back in the stables, let alone sent to the knackers yard.
So now, instead of good, worthwhile, commercially viable companies being able to contribute to growth and a solid economy, they will often be forced to pay lawyers to keep the tribunals in work.
You think I'm exaggerating the dangers? Just look at the payouts by the Armed Forces for hurt feelings..
This explains it better than I can ---
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/edwest/100056560/the-equality-act-is-the-triumph-of-identity-politics-and-possibly-the-worst-law-in-english-history/
Remember that quaint little old British doctrine "no Parliament may bind its successors"?
Yes, they knocked that one on the head with the Lisbon precedent, didn't they?
But then, weren't we all asked by our chums, Dave & Nick, which laws we'd like removed?
Remember how they then said "can't, won't" to everything the public suggested?
Didn't you wonder why? (Oh alright, we Ukippers didn't need to ask why)
Well there are horses, you see, ( this particular one is call Harman - so-called because it's by Harriet out of Herman ) - horses that have bolted and can't be put back in the stables, let alone sent to the knackers yard.
So now, instead of good, worthwhile, commercially viable companies being able to contribute to growth and a solid economy, they will often be forced to pay lawyers to keep the tribunals in work.
You think I'm exaggerating the dangers? Just look at the payouts by the Armed Forces for hurt feelings..
This explains it better than I can ---
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/edwest/100056560/the-equality-act-is-the-triumph-of-identity-politics-and-possibly-the-worst-law-in-english-history/
The folly of hubris
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1316707/A-drunken.html
Oh dear. The poor Irish people can't say they weren't warned last year.
To have gone into the euro was bad enough; to ratify theEU constitution Lisbon Treaty was lunacy.
Now Ireland's own constitution has been superceded , they can't even demand another referendum.
We in the UK were denied a referendum because Ireland gave in - what is truly worrying is that we could well be draggged down with them.
Oh dear. The poor Irish people can't say they weren't warned last year.
To have gone into the euro was bad enough; to ratify the
Now Ireland's own constitution has been superceded , they can't even demand another referendum.
We in the UK were denied a referendum because Ireland gave in - what is truly worrying is that we could well be draggged down with them.
Wagons Ho!
Isn't it strange how so many people, who refuse to vote UKIP, are giving us advice on who should be our Party's leader and what qualities he needs?
This from people whose own leader totally ignores his members (except at election time of course) and any MPs or MEPs who disagree with him?
"You need someone who will unite your Party"
Oh! You mean like uniting it with another one which you had thought was diametrically opposed to yours?
UKIP is like one of those pioneer wagon trains:
although we are a group of disparate personalities and characters, we are all going in the same direction with the same destination. Other parties may claim the same - the difference is, ALL the UKIP train's members, once a route has been decided, stay on the same one. We don't have a few wagon drivers who, because they think they know a short cut, take a diversion. We don't have a few who make their own little circle within the big circle, thus protected from the arrows coming in from hostiles (disappointed voters).
It's aways easy to show someone where you think they're going wrong isn't it. Maybe they should check their own maps and the wheels on their own wagons before jeering that the UKIP wagons are going up Deadend Gulch because our scouts aren't up to the job.
This from people whose own leader totally ignores his members (except at election time of course) and any MPs or MEPs who disagree with him?
"You need someone who will unite your Party"
Oh! You mean like uniting it with another one which you had thought was diametrically opposed to yours?
UKIP is like one of those pioneer wagon trains:
although we are a group of disparate personalities and characters, we are all going in the same direction with the same destination. Other parties may claim the same - the difference is, ALL the UKIP train's members, once a route has been decided, stay on the same one. We don't have a few wagon drivers who, because they think they know a short cut, take a diversion. We don't have a few who make their own little circle within the big circle, thus protected from the arrows coming in from hostiles (disappointed voters).
It's aways easy to show someone where you think they're going wrong isn't it. Maybe they should check their own maps and the wheels on their own wagons before jeering that the UKIP wagons are going up Deadend Gulch because our scouts aren't up to the job.
THE WAY I SEE IT...........
The time has come to stop telling people they shouldn’t vote LibLabCon.
They don’t want to hear it. Fingers in the ears "lalalala"
Why? Because you are telling them to give up their security blanket.
It’s all very well to pander to people’s feelings about the EU; their vague sense that “it shouldn’t be allowed”.
There are politicians, like Dan Hannan, who do that. They lull people into thinking that, because someone like him agrees with them, something will be done.
No it won’t. Nothing will be done; not whilst people like him refuse to take the ultimate step and walk away from their OWN security blankets.
We must PROVE to the voters that their security blankets are toxic. Once they understand that the reassurance they derive from their old party is the very thing that is poisoning them, they will realise for themselves that the only antidote is UKIP .
To do this, we must use the same methods as our enemy. However, the drip feed, as used by the EU, is too slow. We don’t have the fifty years they had - the patient is dying NOW.
My prescription is a daily dose of facts.
You know how that dental plaque highlighter works? Showing where the toothbrush missed? The information we spread will show up where the three parties have covered up and dissembled. Soon everything they’ve said will be shown up for the weasel words and downright lies that they are.
Example:
UKIP has a press office. Unfortunately the media don’t like to publish our press releases – that’s why we activists must use alternatives.
I use Facebook ,some use Twitter, others blog or write letters. Every single one of us has a way to impart information to at least one section of the public.
The EU - and, by extension, the Westminster/Welsh/Scottish/NI Assembly- interferes in some part of our lives every day. We MUST publicise every one of those nose-pokes. If something sounds like a good idea, we should remind people that our own sovereign government in Westminster – if we had one again – could do the same thing but in a way which suits the UK, not 27 other countries, AND without us having to pay £48million a day for them to come up with it.
UKIP has researchers and resources. The activists are the carers. Give us the information – we will make sure the patient gets his daily dose.
They don’t want to hear it. Fingers in the ears "lalalala"
Why? Because you are telling them to give up their security blanket.
It’s all very well to pander to people’s feelings about the EU; their vague sense that “it shouldn’t be allowed”.
There are politicians, like Dan Hannan, who do that. They lull people into thinking that, because someone like him agrees with them, something will be done.
No it won’t. Nothing will be done; not whilst people like him refuse to take the ultimate step and walk away from their OWN security blankets.
We must PROVE to the voters that their security blankets are toxic. Once they understand that the reassurance they derive from their old party is the very thing that is poisoning them, they will realise for themselves that the only antidote is UKIP .
To do this, we must use the same methods as our enemy. However, the drip feed, as used by the EU, is too slow. We don’t have the fifty years they had - the patient is dying NOW.
My prescription is a daily dose of facts.
You know how that dental plaque highlighter works? Showing where the toothbrush missed? The information we spread will show up where the three parties have covered up and dissembled. Soon everything they’ve said will be shown up for the weasel words and downright lies that they are.
Example:
LOOK!
If you let them do this now to your fridge or TV, it only takes a few words added to the regulation to ensure that you won’t be able to buy a vacuum cleaner that will pick up a bread crumb, let alone your dog’s hairs. Remember lightbulbs? You didn’t believe THAT would happen, did you?
The members and activists of UKIP need the information. UKIP has a press office. Unfortunately the media don’t like to publish our press releases – that’s why we activists must use alternatives.
I use Facebook ,some use Twitter, others blog or write letters. Every single one of us has a way to impart information to at least one section of the public.
The EU - and, by extension, the Westminster/Welsh/Scottish/NI Assembly- interferes in some part of our lives every day. We MUST publicise every one of those nose-pokes. If something sounds like a good idea, we should remind people that our own sovereign government in Westminster – if we had one again – could do the same thing but in a way which suits the UK, not 27 other countries, AND without us having to pay £48million a day for them to come up with it.
UKIP has researchers and resources. The activists are the carers. Give us the information – we will make sure the patient gets his daily dose.
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