Scottish Prisons in Green Nonsense

The Scottish Prison Service are swapping inmate's old CRT tellys for new LCD ones in order to meet green targets.

If prisoners are getting free LCD TVs, then why not pensioners, who are more deserving and haven't a hope in hell of affording one themselves? If ever there was an example of getting priorities fucked up beyond comprehension, this is a classic.

As for the Scottish Prison Service quote "the TV sets would not cost the taxpayer any money as prisoners were charged for television access", don't even get me started on that one except to say who pays the prison service to pay the prisoners to pay for the TVs? Unless the SPS have some way of magicking money out of thin air at no cost, then of course its the bloody taxpayer.

ReBoot Government

When a computer goes wrong, we all know more or less instinctively what to do: we reboot the thing by switching off and then switching it on again. It wipes away any of the previous nastiness that caused the crash and brings forth a new, revived computer.

Maybe its about time we did something similar with government: Just stop and start from scratch.

After all, things have become so complex, that really now andy policy changes can only tinker at the sides and add even more complexity. Like adding ever more drivers onto your computer for an increasing list of devices slows down a computer, government is now costing vast sums of money and delivering poor performance.

Its time for a reboot: Lets just stop for a short while and review just whats important. Then bring those basic functions back online one at a time.

Just think, we could have a streamlined, simple tax system, a lower cost NHS, a more beneficial benefits system, rethink our relationship with the wider world.

Its a mantra we all need to adopt. All we need is to elect people with the courage and conviction to do such a thing.

Time is Short.

Right, here's the bottom line: this country is doomed if it continues on its current course.

Right now, if we don't split from the E.U. within the next 5-10 years, we will never be able to. Even now it may be difficult, as we don't have resources and armed forces with which to fight.

Fight, I hear you ask?

Yes, fight. Because to split from the EU would mean war. We've already seen Ireland refuse to toe the EU line by voting no the Lisbon treaty first time round, only to be effectively forced to vote the "correct" way a second time. Democracy died that day, as the first vote should have been honoured, not have a whole country forced to vote again "until they get it right".

Now imagine that anti-EU feeling rises so far in the UK that a party gains power with a mandate to split from the EU immediately.

Would the EU allow that party to gain power? I'm sceptical. I assume there would be huge amounts of negative press and briefings against any anti-EU party. I would imagine there would be several assaults, both political and personal against the senior members. It would be a huge task to fight through the negativity, given that the EU has several national budgets with which to fight.

If such a party got into power, Would the EU stand idly by as the UK splits from the EU? Its hard to say, but given the Irish experience, one has to assume the EU has no regard for the democratic process and would resort to forcibly ensuring the UK stays a member of the EU.

Would the UK be able to resist? Would British forces be able to win against an invasion by the combined forces of the EU? If it happened today there may be a chance, after all we're nuclear-capable, so have the ability to use the ultimate deterrent. But then so are the French. Worse still, as our forces are whittled away by our pro-EU governments, the chances get slimmer. With closer collaboration with other EU forces, comes an intimate knowledge of our capabilities and weaknesses. With more dependance on shared resources as opposed to an independant force, the chances get slimmer.

Make no doubt, this is a very slippery slope we're on.

The American War of Independance was started because of increasing legislation and taxation by a British Parliament where the American colonists weren't represented. The same applies to the EU commission: why the fuck should we accept legislation imposed upon us by a body we have no direct electoral control over?

We either accept the end of the UK as an independant, sovreign entity, or we say enough is enough and start to do something about it. I for one, plan to become more active in "doing something about it" in the new year.