A puzzling society in which all immigrants are liberally welcomed , and all efforts are made to not offend anyone of 'ethnic minority' status ... All very liberal and yet , our government passes more and more laws restrictive of all of our privacy and freedom , seeming to ultimately want to spy on all of us through interception of  our 'phone calls and internet usage , to force us all to carry identity cards bearing unknown to ourselves supposedly correct information about us , and to amass a DNA database of us all .

When listening to 5live this morning I heard that , to mark 40 years since the launch of Radio 1 Tony Blackburn was co-presenting the breakfast show with Chris Moyles , so I tuned in  to hear the great Diana Ross track that I just 'blogged on my previous post . .  I wish I'd known in advance as I only heard the last hour but I loved all the music , from the 60's to the 00's.
I was only 4 or  5 in '67 but as soon as I got my first 'transistor radio' in the early 70's I fell in love with pop music and Radio 1 , much to the consternation of my Classical music loving Father .
Tony Blackburn was possibly initially my favourite  DJ but I also remember the other R1 presenters of the time , and in my teens I discovered Capital Radio , BBC Radio London and LBC .
There is some great popular music now though I dislike nearly all 'hip-hop' and rap , and , every year there's new bands hyped up to be the latest , greatest thing , most of whom are average at best .
I do think there was a lot of great music ( as well as of course some rubbish) in the 70's , but having been born in '62 I would say that would'nt I .

Click Twice on Play to hear this beautiful Diana Ross track

On Radio5live this morning Victoria Darbishire broadcast an interview with David and Jennifer Edwards whose 15 year old daughter Rosemarie was found dead in the New Forest last weekend - She had hung herself .
Which was followed by a discussion on relations between parents and teenagers , and about teens in general .
Rosemarie had taken without permission a can of soft drink and a packet of sweets which she only had to ask for from the shop where she worked part time , then apparently not having been entirely honest when asked about it by the shopkeeper , resulting in her dismissal from the job.
She felt very embarrassed and ashamed and her parents , her Father in particular were shocked and disappointed ; Her Dad expressed his disappointment and imposed the 'punishment' of 'grounding' her .
She walked into the forest sometime in the night . Now it's not up to me so say , and I've never been a Father but , though I'm sure that 'grounding' has its place I do hate that word and I did get the impression that if the Father was not such a controlling person the tragedy would not have occured .
Of course there must be 'boundaries' ,   but I think that any teenager should be entitled to make the odd silly mistake , feel bad about it and learn from it , as it sounds like Rosemarie already had , without their parents going too 'over the top' about it .
Though I hasten to add that of course her parents both feel terrible about the shocking tragedy.
In the 5live studio were two of the usual 'panel' on Radio 1's 'sunday surgery' programme , one of whom said that adults do'nt attempt to impose such 'punishments' on other adults who do silly things that they should'nt , and that teenagers are emerging into adulthood and that it's not necessarily a very good idea to treat them too much 'as children' .
She also pointed out how teenagers are ridiculed in tv comedies , i.e Catherine Tate , Little Britain , Harry Enfield ...
And then there's all the crime and anti-socialness perpatrated by some teens that we hear so much of , when in truth MOST teenagers are just doing their best to learn and prepare themselves for the rest of their lives and to socialise with their friends etc . , at a difficult age and in a sometimes harsh and confusing world , in which what might seem  'no big deal' to an experienced older person may seem of overwhelming   importance , and devastating if it goes wrong to a sensitive teenager experiencing things for the first time .
I wrote here yesterday that the UK's become such an overly liberal society which I think it has in terms of immigration , and official tolerance of a lot of 'anti-social' behaviours which can make
decent people's lives a misery , often seeming to value offender's rights and welfare above those of their victims .
Though conversely  illiberal as regards for example the smoking ban which as a non - smoker suits me and I can't disagree with it  , or the threat , now , to prosecute anyone lighting up in their own car , which is pathetically ludicrous , and not forgetting our rulers intentions not just to introduce compulsory identity cards but also to ultimately have a database of all of our dna .
Then there's the 'little dictators'  who like to espouse 'zero tolerance' in their own little domains . For example I once tried going to a 'day-centre' place in lowestoft for people with 'mental-health' issues , and was at first welcomed by a CPN there who then said "Have you been drinking ? " - I seldom drink in the daytime except on occasional hot days - I said " Yes , I've had one pint" and he explained that due to their rules I had to leave ;
I know why they say that and that it's the same in many such places but I still find it insulting -
OF COURSE some things should'nt be tolerated - If someone creates a disturbance there then ban or suspend them from visiting - And of course no alcoholic drinks should be taken in there but to say that I can't have a pint in a pub on a hot afternoon then go there if it's still open is to me both an insult and an infringement of my civil liberties as an adult citizen .
And the worst example of this would-be 'macho' 'zero tolerance' rubbish is Mike Hillier who says that he manages a 'day centre' in Norwich ;
I used to go there for some company when I was living alone and quite isolated ; After I met my 'ex-partner' Julie I introduced her to the place and she started going there more than me , and soon became a favourite of the staff there .
After she left me over 10 years later she was still going there every day but the staff there were assisting her in hiding from me there , mostly  in 'groups' , i.e 'art groups' that I did'nt go to , and , when I was there or when she thought that I might have been there she was allowed to stay behind in the art room or wherever until one of the staff went in to tell her that I had left .
That went on for weeks before I suddenly realised what was going on whereupon , just as the place was closing I slightly raised my voice and uttered one instance of the F word when I told him that I realised they'd been colluding with her in her childish , silly , unnecessary avoidance of me , which they would not have done for me if it had been the other way round - I was not at all threatening or drunk or anything of the sort - and for that he gleefully immediately sat down and typed me a peurile , threatening letter about 'zero tolerance' which arrived the next day which was my birthday , in 2005 .

So now Jack Straw is saying what strangely never seemed to cross his mind when he was home - secretary , that no one should be prosecuted for physically overpowering anyone illegally entering their home or attacking them or anyone else , so long as they do not use excessive force , i.e trying to 'punish' the person after they have restrained or disabled them .
Though I have to agree with him that under the circumstances Tony Martin had to be prosecuted .
After Gordon Brown's feeble empty promises designed to appeal not just to Racist's but to anyone who despairs of what an excessively , counter-productively liberal society the UK has become , and now Jack Straw's sudden populist , common-sensical conversion it's obvious that 'election-fever' is circulating around the parlimentary labour party , but that they can't make up their minds whether it should be this November - err .. supposing it's cold and wet , and , err , would that most disadvantage us or the tories - or next May , Or , err ...

I hereby Gaurantee that this material is of a pornographic , terroristic , racist , violent , offending , illegal and unlawful nature
. . .
Nah , It's only Leo !

As I should've realised last night , and to quote from Peter Oborne in today's  'Mail :
" Gordon Brown - as he must know perfectly well - can  repatriate criminals only if he is prepared to repeal the Human Rights Act , which would mean leaving the European Union .
Otherwise he will be blocked by the courts . In truth the pledge was no better than empty rhetoric pandering to prejudice ... "
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Those who want to blame Kate and Gerry McCann for their personal tragedy will enjoy trying to read suspicious innuendo's in Kate reportedly having shouted " THEY've taken her " after 10pm on May 3rd .
She was in shock , perhaps partly blaming herself for not having left their children in the holiday company's evening 'creche' , and presumably by"they" meant 'someone' , some unknown male and / or female person or people .
What other inference is there to draw ? - That Mr and Mrs McCann were involved in some child
smuggling - ring ? - Oh , 'Come off it' . . .
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And an article by Sue Reid in todays 'Mail , ' Diana : The Unseen Evidence ' , in which she almost apologetically  points out that Lord Steven's 'operation paget' report
left out so much known evidence ;
To those who  trustingly go along with the 'official' line on the crash - that it was obviously a simple tragic accident and that all of those loony ' conspiracy theories ' are way off the mark -
That's what you've chosen , or been manipulated into believing , that suits you , that's fine . . .
But to anyone who's sought out and read all they can about what happened  it's not so simple , and . . . I know that many of you are bored with hearing about this but , call me delusional if you want to but , if you've not looked beyond the 'official' conclusions , at various other well - sourced available evidence  ,  . . . . . . . . . . . .

I've just watched 'Deja Vu' ( set in New Orleans , starring Denzel Washington as a 'special agent' investigating a bombing , and if I tell you any more it could partially spoil it if you've not seen it yet )
for the second time and enjoyed it quite a lot , as did my Mum who I watched it with .
Have today felt  better than yesterday .
I thought it significant that Brown did'nt mention Blair until three quarters through his conference speech , and , why did he make no reference at all to the Conservative's , or libdems ?
Is that because he feels it's his already written destiny to rule us for years to come ?
I do'nt think a 2007 general election is very likely now , with 'The Sun' having strongly come out in favour of a referendum on the European Treaty that the Conservatives have already promised , and which Brown seems disinclined to offer us .
He said some good things in his speech , they always do , and I hope that , though have my doubts , that any non british citizen committing any 'serious' crime here will immediately be expelled from the UK , which surely anyone would agree with , apart from Cherie Blair and other 'human rights lawyers' .
He certainly seemed sincere in his professed tough stance against illegally held guns , and drugs .
Good luck to him , despite his tax - rises , support of the Iraqi debacle , etc .

I've felt do damn grotty and ghastly , anguished and tormented for much of today .
I so much need a female 'soul-mate'/'partner' , and , I'm sensible , trustworthy , and if appropiate
I can be so damn loving , generous , tactile and sensual .
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I was dreaming last night  that I was in New York during the 1960's  ( !?$)  .

From Today's Sunday Express , by Gordon Thomas , Author of the forthcoming book 'Inside British Intelligence'  :
" Madeleine's fate could be resolved by the giant golf ball-shaped objects towering over the windswept coast of North Yorkshire.
Almost a thousand miles from where the four year-old was last seen alive in Portugal , the objects ,known
as radones , could answer in seconds the questions that have tantilised the world .
But only Gordon Brown has the authority to mobilise the radones - the word means "stony ground" in
ancient Saxon - at RAF Memwith Hill .
To do so would cost "at least £1million , and probably more , to realign the radones and the satellites
to which they are linked" , said an expert last night at GCHQ in Cheltenham , Britain's communications headquarters.
Each radone is coated in toughened Teflon to produce crystal clear images ans is equipped with computers which can receive continuous messages and images from 54 satellites circling the world .
Their ultra-powerful camera's can pick out the glint in a mans eyes or the smile on a child's lips .
Sources close to the GCHQ director , Sir David Pepper , have told the Sunday Express that the vast complex , employing more than 7,000 specialist technicians , could be "tasked"  to to use some of its
annual budget of £600million to find out whether Madeleine is alive or dead .
Under a joint UK-US agreement , GCHQ gathers electronic secret information from Europe , Africa and
Russia west of the Ural mountains . America's National Security agency , NSA , covers the rest of the world .
Each month , more than 17 billion messages are intercepted from commercial networks as they bounce
their traffic around the globe .
Two systems would be used to try to locate Madeleine .
One is called Silkworth , the other Moonpenny . They are sophisticated enough to pick up conversations inside a building anywhere in the world ..
Other systems can detect soil disturbance and , in coastal waters , detect objects on the sea floor . Former NSA director William Studeman confirmed that the capability to "search and find" that GCHQ shares with the NSA is "probably the largest processing software in the world" .
Will it be used to finally bring an end to the search for Madeleine McCann ? "

Well I know that there really is a lot of 'top secret' stuff going on that the vast majority of us will never be privy to , and , that article  to me elicits far more questions than answers .
For example , exactly how could data from  US Satellites be used to solve mysteries and crimes , and , if it can be , why do some serious crimes remain unsolved ?
And , if these satellites really do pick up just about anything that anyone says or does , meaning that we are all being spied on all the time , for how long can the data be stored ?
And , if it really  could  be used retrospectively , 4 - 5 months later , how powerful the computers must be to store all that data .
I am reminded of the movie 'Deja Vu' , starring Denzel Washington .
And as for soil disturbance / finding bodies , well yes  that might solve some mysteries / crimes but I do'nt really understand how satellites can 'see' under the earth or sea .

I went out to get a paper late this morning and the high street was full of unusual exhibits on the theme of umbrella's but the main draw was a 19 piece Jazz Big Band , made up of males and females of varying ages who were really very good indeed .
I'm uploading three photo's ; I also took two mini-movies , with sound , of the band and for a small compact camera the quality is quite good ; I tried to upload one here - they are 78 and 102 mb but for some reason , on this 'up to 2mb' broadband connection it takes about 1 minute per mb to upload onto this site , whereas I can download 100mb in a few minutes .
I may try again tomorrow to put one of the avi files on this 'blog .

I tried to uninstall the pre-installed Norton Security from my desktop pc : Not on the control panel list and uninstalling it through packard bell smart restore does not work . Finally I downloaded a patch from the p/b w/site which put norton on the control panel list : Then a
message that I could'nt uninstall in unless 'logged in' - Eventually I was able to get rid of it or so I thought , because Norton Security Center was still on the startup menu pestering me even after I'd installed Panda Internet Security , which only installed a very basic version because it said I did'nt have enough space despite only  5% of the 160gb being in use .
So that's no good and I've turned off that pc for good because even if I try to use it for anything other than the internet the norton thing , which it's impossible to get rid of will still keep pestering me .
Norton was also pre-installed on this laptop but I renewed it and apparently have 130 days left and when that expires I'll have to update it because otherwise I'll have the same problem ;    I'll have to throw away the panda security disc .

I think that if Gordon Brown is to call an imminent general election he has to announce it and launch the
campaign during his conference speech on monday , otherwise , forget it before next Spring .
A good date would've been  October 18th but he can't force the conservatives to cancel their conference the following week , or allow them the free publicity of a conference during the three week 'official' campaign which means it would be October 25th , so during the campaign he'd be off to the European Summit in Lisbon on the 18th and 19th , helping to finalise the unpopular European Treaty which when the time comes  he'll want , if he thinks he can get away with it , to impose on us without offering us a referendum on it .
If Brown does'nt publicly decide whether or not call a 2007 election very soon he'll be seen to be dithering ,
which he probably is .
I still think there's a less than a 50% chance of a 'snap' election although if there is one it's very difficult to envisage anything other than another labour victory , when , despite tax-rises , immigration , crime , Iraq etc . most working and retired people are reasonably not too badly off , Brown is seen as a strong , principled leader and a 'breath of fresh air' after his predecessor , much of the news media  at least
tacitly supports him , and the Conservatives are frankly a joke at the moment .

Well Thank God the awful 'comedy awards' thing has been scrapped ; I can't stand that over- paid , over-rated , virtually talentless irritating prat J/Ross , who , at the 'comedy awards' a few years ago , when Frank Sinatra was known to be ill , came out with a peurile and despicable so - called 'joke' about Sinatra not needing next years calendar .
Also I can't bear Russell Brand (who , unless he has a doppelganger I walked past a month or two ago) , or Chris Evans ; Give them all a one - way ticket to somewhere far , far away . . . . . .

How odd that his final O2 arena performance  is going to be broadcast live on Sky News Tonight , I
mean , why not Sky 1 , and , what happens if there's 'breaking news' while it's on ( ? ) ; Even odder that
his latest album was given away with the Mail on Sunday - But , having done 21 nights there plenty of
people must like him , which seems odd to me !
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There's going to be a 1940's evening at the local Hall next Saturday , with the Jeff Short Big Band dressed in WW2 uniforms - And it says 'bring your own drinks' , which would suit me , though you've got to 'phone to get tickets and to find out how much they cost  and  I have no one to go with , no 1940's clothes , and do'nt know the dances ... Shame . . . - ? -

On this mornings 5live phone-in they were talking about bullying at schools , prompted by a report into  'cyber-bullying' , which of course did'nt apply when I was at school 85 years  ago but after I was suddenly moved to the class above the one I was in , missing a years schooling , I was bullied at that school and another .
It continued into my early adolescence before fading away somewhat , though never entirely .
The bullying of me that I'm writing  about  happened at the Kings Langley Rudolf Steiner School , although officially there has never been any bullying at any Steiner School .
It was physical , psychological and verbal .
Athough I was never seriously wounded I was punched many times - and threatened , leaving me in fear . I do'nt know why I was so unable or afraid to fight back , but I was . Once , when we
were all about 13-ish the bully - boys and their girl admirers conspired to trap me in the classroom at the end of the school day and 'beat me up' , just for fun ; The girls were standing on the bench that encircled the coat rail excitedly saying " give him one from me " and were I believe deriving some sort of sexual arousal from the occasion .
Apart from anything physical or the threat of it I was just . . . Ridiculed ,  A  Lot , which resulted in my becoming , for many years I think , more shy than I had been and afraid to express any individuality for fear of that being 'stamped on'  . Also in my teens , after leaving school I developed a stammer .
So why do some people bully ? - Sometimes the bullies are victims themselves in their home
enviroments  , not that that's much of an excuse .
Sometimes they just 'get a taste for' tormenting others and find it hugely enjoyable , and ,
of course , when anyones chosen as a 'scapegoat' it's usually when their being noticably different in some way somehow disturbs others , who like to externalise their insecurities about themselves onto a weaker person .
So the bullies motivation can be any or all of : Anger  ,  repressed fear , or just sheer enjoyment , and 'showing off' to others . And it's very unifying to have a commonly shared object of derision ,  anger etc .
Not that all my classmates were bullies or otherwise nasty people and not that I have no pleasant childhood memories : I do have some and will write about them another time .
How long , I wonder , until  the new US weapon : A sort of 'ray gun' that directs  invisible microwave beams , precisely tuned to a frequency that stimulates human nerve - endings causing  unimaginable ,  unbearable pain but with no visible or permanant injury ends up in the hands of state sponsored bullies ..

Watched  part 1 of the itv drama 'Torn' (you can tell it's an itv , as opposed to bbc drama because there's not many black or asian faces in it) which was really quite good though would've worked so much better as 2 x 90 minutes over 2 nights , instead of 3 x 60 minutes over 2 weeks .
It's about a couple realising that their daughter who vanished presumed drowned on a beach at the age of 3 is still alive 10 years later , so I wonder what twists there are to come .
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I'd say there's something like a 46 % chance of Gordon Brown calling a General Election this Autumn : I kind of hope he does as it'll make life a bit more interesting for a month or so , despite
Labour being almost  certain to win it  ;  As always - until there's another instance of that rare event a 'hung parliment' -  we can forget the lib-dems and , barring very unforseen circumstances I can't see the conservatives winning under David Cameron  or their dumping him before the next general election . But , If the economy takes a turn for the worse and if the tories can manage to expose  the carefully spun away problems with our Labour Government AND offer a clear , believable , attractive alternative then , I Suppose , Who Knows ... Maybe .
If you were Gordon , what would YOU do ?

A 'better than the last one' pic of Leo . It's lovely when he joins me on my bed , purring , relaxed , sleepy and affectionate early most mornings .

So the McCann's are spending some of the funds donated to them to launch a worldwide advertising campaign to try to keep their daughter Madeleine's image in all our consciousnesses : I hope it succeeds but
it's probably likely to only result in more false leads and mistaken identities ;
If only they'd employed private investigators from the start but they did'nt want to seem disrespectful to the Portugese Police .
I admit that earlier this week I started to think that , Just maybe they could be gulity as suggested and that's an interesting notion but as I said that makes so little if any sense if you intelligently think about it  .
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A friend of My Mum and I : I used to regularly visit their home in Kings Langley , Hertfordshire , when I was a child / adolescent : Her husband
recently died and one  of her Grandaughter's does'nt want to stay overnight because she knows that his ashes are somewhere in the house ;
I do'nt blame the child ; I'd feel the same - I can't bear the thought of being near anyones ashes - Urrrgh ! - I think that my Mum had my Dad's ashes but that with a friend she scattered them over walberswick beach but knowing how I feel about such things she mentioned nothing of that to me until afterwards .
I also find it repulsive if anyones body , i.e Pavarotti's , is displayed in an 'open coffin' .
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Southwold and Walberswick have been stupidly called 'Chelsea on Sea' and 'Hampstead on Sea' which is really daft but , property IS expensive here and , in the local news on thursday , some people have been conned by being sold plots of land in fields here for £9,000 , having been told that they could sell the land on to buliding contractors and make huge profits . .
The land is completely unsuitable for buliding on and I do'nt really have  a lot of sympathy ; Should'nt they have figured that , if such vast profits were possible , the company who sold them the  land would have made those profits themselves ?
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In 2005 when my 'partner' Julie suddenly decided to leave me and break off all contact with me , taking our cat , six weeks after my Dad died , it was like a triple - bereavement .

Yes ! , Let's all riot in the streets to protest against that Saintly All-American Hero Mr. OJ Simpson having been accused of a crime at
a Las Vegas Hotel !
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I've not had a bet for nearly 3 weeks however I watched one televised race today just before which a horse with Olivier Peslier on board crashed into the first rail just before the start then somersaulted over
the 2nd rail landing on the ground before getting up again and cantering down the road ; The jockey jumped off just before the impact
and at first seemed maybe to be seriously injured , then less so .
The former jump - jockey John Francome , of the Ch4Racing team of
presenters remarked that he was'nt very concerned if the horse was hurt because you can always find another horse - Shame on him ! - He
has made his living on the back of those noble creatures - Might as well say that you can always find another jockey - No decent racing fan wants any horses OR jockeys  to be injured or killed .

A bit antiquated now perhaps (1997) , but Still sounds Beautiful to me .

"Until one is committed there is always the chance to draw back ;
Always ineffectiveness , concering all acts of initiative ( and creation )
there is one elementary truth , the ignorance of which kills countless
ideas and splendid plans - that the moment one definitely commits
oneself then providence moves too . All sorts of things occur to help
one that would not otherwise have occurred . A whole stream of events
issues from the decision , raising in ones favour all manner of unforseen incidents , meetings and material assistance which no
one could have dreamed would have come their way .
Whatever you can do or dream you can , begin it !
Boldness has genius , magic and power in it .
Begin it now "
Johann Wolfgang Von Goehte , 1749 - 1832 .

I do'nt understand why they've apparently asked their friends who they holidayed with not to talk to the media .
Could it just possibly be that , during their evening meal on May 3rd , Kate and / or Gerry disappeared for longer than they'd have us believe ,
and have given their friends a plausible explanation for that but asked them not to talk to the media , because they do'nt want that to be public
knowledge ?
If so that combined with , reportedly , a lot of Madeleines's hair found in the boot of the car they hired on May 28th seems enough to seem very incriminating of them .
But , think about it and , unless they really are chillingly cold , calculated psycopaths and very good actors , the idea that they killed and twice hid Madeleine and that everything else has been a charade just does'nt make sense - unless there really is compelling evidence supporting that , in which case we'll learn more at the eventual trial .
I do'nt think so and I doubt that we can trust many of the supposed 'leaks' from the Algarvian Police .
Gerry and Kate McCann say that , though they are no longer in Portugal , as official suspects they cannot talk publicly about the case
but , I do'nt see what anyone could do to stop them giving one full - length television interview to answer all questions and allegations in
detail - I think that they should .

SloshedAndVexed : Sounds a bit like 'Posh and Becks' , and , I do slowly get a bit drunk most evenings , and not so infrequently feel vexed about whatever .
Martin : It's okay , not my favourite name , and , for some of my schooldays it was sometimes 'Mental Martin' .
I've been called : 'Mr.Bean' , despite my lack of resembalance to Mr. Atkinson .
And , 20 years ago some local long-haired male weirdo's got off on shouting " Straigh' Ar' " whenever they saw me , apparently because they alleged that I did not , whilst walking , swing my arms demonstratively enough for their liking .
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The stupid survey that's supposed to prove that  1 out of 5 UK males would know who to go to to easily illegally buy a gun if they wanted one  ; I have never known (or wanted to know) that , including when I lived in a city , and I very much doubt that anyone who I know , or any of my friends on this site could easily obtain a gun . . . Is this anti-male propaganda or just lazy surveying or what . . .