Moors murderess Myra Hindley has just died and is hopefully now burning in hell. Good riddance.
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…does not mean it is not true! In Brian‘s earlier article about why railways are the width they are, there has been much commenting about the veracity of the theory that it can be traced back to Imperial Roman times. But in those comment, it was claimed the English V-sign is also of largely mythical origin. I disagree. The meaning of the V-sign is quite well known and I have not seen any better explanations. The US gesture of extending the middle finger is clearly just a phallic reference (i.e. “f**k you”), but the English V-sign, which has some similar connotations (i.e. it is not a sign of endearment), has historical roots dating back to the 1400’s. If the middle finger is a gesture of anger, the V-sign is a gesture of defiance and above all, a threat. “It is with these two fingers that I use my longbow!”… Up yours, with an arrow! Of course as with anything of this nature, it is more or less a matter of folk lore yet I have not seen any evidence to contradict the contention that the V-sign was indeed a gesture of defiance by common English soldiers towards the French, though my understanding is that it was not just associated with the Battle of Agincourt but was in general use during the Hundred Years War.  
Both versions of the gesture made perfect semiotic sense and Since World War Two the V-sign, knuckles inwards, has come to mean V-for-Victory far beyond the shores of Britain. Knuckles outwards, it retains its more ‘earthy’ meaning. Yet Churchill would have been well aware of both the gesture’s significance and history. He intended to coopt both to use against Nazi Germany: Defiance and, to put it bluntly, Up yours. 
The V-sign considerably pre-dates the European Union… November 15th, 2002 | 5 comments - (Comments are closed)
 I do not know whether the news of the fire service strike has travelled beyond the UK, but in case anyone is interested, here is the truth behind it: Today’s London firemen’s strike is the most outrageous bid for money since the Fleet Street print disputes of the 1970s. The system is being milked of money, and the public of sympathy. I admire the firemen’s gall and enterprise. They need no sympathy. It’s worth reading the whole article – it is the best analysis of the wave of strikes hitting London and the UK. London is chaotic at best of times, it is beyond chaos during strikes, but words fail me to capture the situation with an increased threat of terrorism thrown into the bargain… Update: John Blundell of the Institute of Economic Affairs has some suggestions about how to run fire brigades. November 14th, 2002 | 2 comments - (Comments are closed)
In a comment to David Carr’s post, Alan K. Henderson asks whether Elizabeth the First would have delivered a speech like the one we got to hear yesterday by Elizabeth the Second. A pertinent reminder as the famous speech of her ancestor (in throne, not blood) attests not only to more balls but timelessness of (some of) the sentiments expressed: My loving people, we have been persuaded by some, that are careful of our safety, to take heed how we commit ourselves to armed multitudes, for fear of treachery; but I assure you, I do not desire to live to distrust my faithful and loving people. Let tyrants fear; I have always so behaved myself that, under God, I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and good will of my subjects. And therefore I am come amongst you at this time, not as for my recreation or sport, but being resolved, in the midst and heat of the battle, to live or die amongst you all; to lay down, for my God, and for my kingdom, and for my people, my honor and my blood, even the dust. I know I have but the body of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart of a king, and of a king of England, too; and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realms: to which, rather than any dishonor should grow by me, I myself will take up arms; I myself will be your general, judge, and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field. I know already, by your forwardness, that you have deserved rewards and crowns; and we do assure you, on the word of a prince, they shall be duly paid you. In the mean my lieutenant general shall be in my stead, than whom never prince commanded a more noble and worthy subject; not doubting by your obedience to my general, by your concord in the camp, and by your valor in the field, we shall shortly have a famous victory over the enemies of my God, of my kingdom, and of my people. Elizabeth I of England – 1588 November 14th, 2002 | 9 comments - (Comments are closed)
The police in Britain have been busy smashing down doors and dragging people from their beds. Yesterday it was wicked people who were connected to child porn (at least the police said they all were – even though hundreds of people have been arrested over the last few days). Today however it will be people guilty of ‘hate crimes’ – after all, posters on the London Underground warn that to ‘verbally abuse’ people on grounds of race, gender or sexual orientation�is a crime and will be punished. So who will defend people who have said nasty things? After all they must all be guilty – otherwise the police would not have dragged them into the street (with the other people who live in the street looking down from their bedroom windows). Yesterday the Prime Minister made a speech (after the Queen’s opening of Parliament). The Prime Minister explained to us that Britain is stuck in the past with a silly devotion to 19th century concepts of civil liberties – such things as trial by jury obstruct the modern state and must be further ‘limited’. November 14th, 2002 | One comment - (Comments are closed)
My word, HMG has been busy of late. You’d think the prospect of impending Middle East conflagration might slow them down a tad, but no, not this lot. They’ve still found the time and dedication to set hundreds of monkeys loose on thousands of typewriters and they’ve whipped up a thunderous swarm of new laws and initiatives with which they hope to cure All The Problems in the Known Universe. So what, exactly, are the primates gibbering on about now? Let’s see, shall we:
They’re going to whack up taxes again so they can feed the public sector while endlessly tinkering around with the Soviet-style systems in a vain attempt to get them to work properly.
None of which will stop our houses getting burgled, our cars getting stolen or our loved ones getting mugged for their loose change.
Yes, because abolishing the right to a fair trial is a sure and certain way to keep the crime figures down!
?????????????????????????
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Hello to the European Arrest Warrant, goodbye to Habeas Corpus.
Alright, I’ll give them that one. Long overdue actually. Still, if you toss around enough mud, some of it hits the right spot.
More jobs for Guardianistas!
More semi-literate cretins taking degrees in ‘Cake Preparation’ to keep the unemployment figures from rising.
More jobs for Guardianistas!
We set about abolishing England, keep our masters in Brussels happy and provide even more jobs for Guardianistas!! An HMG Trifecta!
And even more jobs for Guardianistas plus the added benefit of crippling industry with lashings of unnecessary red-tape. What’s not to like?
You realise, of course, that this means war.
Because Europe is heading down the toilet-bowl of history and we are determined to bravely follow them.
We’re going to abolish breathing.
And we’ll even save time and paperwork by remitting your money direct to the numbered Swiss bank account of Mr. R. Mugabe. It’s all getting a bit much, it really is. I think it’s beginning to overwhelm me. Living in Britain is like taking part in a 24-hour Grumblethon. Phone in with your generous pledges, ladies and gentlemen. All receipts to HM Treasury who will syphon it all off into the infinite black hole of the public purse, never to be seen or heard from again. Just keep paying and smile like you’re having a good time. I’m fed up, I’m tired, I’m seriously grumpy and I’m going to bed; perchance to dream of a better world where Saddam Hussein is a cab-driver in South London, Al Qaeda is a gameshow host and where all the monkeys have been rounded up and put in the zoo where they belong. November 14th, 2002 | 5 comments - (Comments are closed)
Crime seems to be a flavour of the day in the UK. Today a battle plan to fight crime was unveiled by the government in the Queen’s speech opening the new parliamentary year. And a new advertising campaign was launched on Monday by the Metropolitan Police Service named “Help us cut out hate crime”.  I noticed such posters on Monday and at first I thought they were designed to change the attitudes of the potential perpetrators of hate crimes by yet another ‘awareness’ campaign. (The New Labour seems to be very fond of ‘awareness’ campaign managing to spend prodigious amounts of tax-payers money on pointless and expensive advertising.) My immediate reaction was that of incredulity that anyone could imagine that plastering posters on the Underground would change anything, let alone someone’s bigoted and hateful opinions. Or do they believe in subliminal advertising? No, the truth is far less subtle – the campaign urges victims of hate crime or those who have information about it to come forward. A name, an address or even a description of offenders will enable police to target criminals and stop the ‘abuse’. Adverts will appear in newspapers and in a number of gay, ethnic and disabled press titles, and on the Underground. There will also be a hate crime and domestic violence radio campaign as well as posters appearing on washroom panels, the underground, and on trains. Yes, it may seem a good thing to encourage victims to come forward. But that would be more effectively and properly achieved by restoring our confidence in the criminal justice system by making sure that criminals are arrested, sentenced and jailed in timely and effective manner and that victims are not ignored or forgotten in the process. The effect, if any, of the campaign will be an atmosphere of paranoia at the local community level. Abuse of the system will ensure that. Imagine the trouble you could cause to a neighbour you dislike by simply reporting on him for alleged domestic violence:
But the scary bit is the bit about the hate crime itself, defined as abusing people because of their race, faith, religion, or disability, or because they are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transsexual. The danger is in the shift from the emphasis on one’s actions that can be classified as criminal acts – murder, rape, theft etc to an entirely different and vague area. Yes, it says ‘abuse’ but so does ‘substance abuse’ and nobody is encouraging drugs to come forward to report on their junkies. Suddenly, the crime is in the eye of the beholder and although it is correct that the victim is the obvious one to do the seeing, it is not correct to encourage the seeing of crime without providing a clear definition. It is precisely such vagueness of definition of hate crimes that encourages victim culture. November 13th, 2002 | 26 comments - (Comments are closed)
As I checked the on-line version of the Evening Standard, a London daily, for an update on yet more travel chaos in the capital, I ended up in the newpaper’s chat room. The posts covered a range of topics from strikes in the UK to German economy, Gordon Brown, the EU, etc. I was fascinated by the following opinions and encouraged by an unexpected degree of common sense they contained. On Gordon Brown, the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer:
On German economy:
On the EU:
How sound is that?! November 12th, 2002 | 8 comments - (Comments are closed)
The British newspapers are agog at rape allegations inside the Royal Household. Yawn. The British state daily rapes million of people of billions of pounds to pay for ‘services’ that fail to deliver whilst blighting the economy and distorting civil society… yet the idiot media concentrates of the trivial antics of House of Windsor, who are little more than a bunch of national tourist attractions who at least generate more money than they cost the hapless taxpayer. Now that is the true scandal, not who might or might not have buggered whom in some drafty palace. November 11th, 2002 | 2 comments - (Comments are closed)
A leading Tory moderniser warned that the party had to be completely transformed and must be ready to give up “some of the things we hold dear” if it was ever to win power again. Could he possibly mean giving up its statist attitude and blinkered view of reality? Has the Tory Party seen light at the end of the tunnel? No, Archie Norman, a close ally of Michael Portillo once seen as a Thatcherite Tory leader hopeful, called for tax rises to pay for improved public services. Not only are the views of Mr Norman, a direct challenge to Ian Duncan Smith’s policy (shock! horror!) but tax rises?! To fund public services?! There is light at the end of the tunnel but, alas, it is an on-coming train… It is morbid fun watching the Conservative party stumble into oblivion. Meanwhile, Labour, given its own problems, must regard it as a blessing rather than political opposition. November 11th, 2002 | 3 comments - (Comments are closed)
There is more information here. It leaves you with a certain level of… uncertainty. Like “why was he writing a draft statement that said this in the first place?” Time passes…. I’ve now read the original statement by Blunkett and am left wondering who hyped this whole thing into silliness. There does not seem to be any warning of imminent attack, only a general warning of what we all know already: we’re a target and the enemy is utterly ruthless. November 8th, 2002 | 3 comments - (Comments are closed)
Following Home Secretary David Blunkett‘s confused apocalyptic warning yesterday about the threat of an Al Qaeda attack on the UK, which was then quickly retracted, earlier today on News Direct 97.3 FM radio, I caught a fragment of some UK government warning about a “credible threat of an attack against London” and “poison gas” was mentioned. However I have not heard a blessed thing since then. Is this something new? Is it a retraction of yesterday’s retraction? Did any one else hear more of this and get any details? Is it just a coincidence that there has been an astonishing number of military helicopters (mostly Pumas and a couple Chinooks) flying over my house throughout the day? Hmmmm. November 8th, 2002 | 5 comments - (Comments are closed)
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