Musashino Musings

Well, it seems the BH panic was a little premature and everything seems to have turned out ok at Number 10. Yet, I fear the whole Nick Clegg wobble affair has revealed something of his true character and intentions. DC would do well to keep a close eye on that one.

But for all the drama, let’s not forget the real good news – Brown and all his cronies have gone from power. And with any luck, Labour is now about to be torn-apart by bickering and in-fighting for the leadership. If our luck holds, that should give DC and Cleggy a chance to get going on the problems facing the country without being distracted by the constant whining from the opposition about how they didn’t really lose…yeah right.

Well, I never thought that I would be anything less than overjoyed to hear that Brown had got the hint at last and slung his hook. But it has come to pass; it looks like the slimy toad has managed to hang onto power after all with the help of the even more slimy Nick Clegg. I am – frankly – gobsmacked that anyone would have the sheer brass neck to state publicly their intention to act in the national interest, and then take exactly the opposite path. The sheer treachery of it is truly jaw-dropping.

Now with the markets in predictable flight away from Sterling, I truly believe we are witnessing the final months of the UK as an independent sovereign state. After revealing himself to be nothing more than a duplicitous snake-in-the-grass, Cameron cannot seriously contemplate having anything to do with the Yellow Peril. That leaves no other option than the eventual implosion of the country as England is financially ransacked by the EU, and by the national assemblies of Scotland and Wales in the inevitable deal to keep the “traffic light” government together. What future awaits the country I can only guess. A terrible day.

“I don’t think a hung parliament is a bad idea…who should we start with?” So said an unknown but pithy commentator on the recent UK elections. I think that comment sums up the mood of the country better than any post-election analysis. Your humble scribe couldn’t concentrate too much on work matters last Friday for following the unfolding drama online. And in the end – as you will no doubt be aware - the result was pretty much as many had been speculating'; a parliament where no one party achieved an overall majority and thus a clear mandate to govern.

As the final returns trickled in, a certain pall of gloom settled over Chateau Beerhound  as I contemplated the fact that after the dust had settled, the incumbent first minister remained in residence at Number 10. I was disappointed – actually bitterly so – that a party I regard as having done so much damage to my country, and a PM that I so utterly despise, remained with their hands gripping on the reins of power. Albeit slightly less firmly than before. From there, it is all to easy to start blaming the opposition for their woeful inability to land a glove on what has got to be the worst government in modern British history. But then I got to thinking about it a bit more, and I realised that perhaps the good old British people had got the result they really wanted: to shake-up Westminster and put all MPs on notice that they are very definitely in probatio for the foreseeable future.

I think most people are heartily sick of the bureaucracy and political correctness; of endless rules and regulations, initiatives, spin, spiralling taxes and deteriorating services. And yet, after the expenses scandal, who do they turn to in an effort to sort it out? While Labour are completely discredited to all but the staunchest supporters, the Conservatives under Cameron would appear to promise little alternative if given the chance to rule. The Lib Dems make nice noises but appear to many to be strong on idealistic rhetoric but unable to delivery in the real world. The alternatives are too cranky or too small to offer any kind of credibility. And yet – almost magically - the British people appear to be heading for possibly the best solution in a difficult situation -  an alliance between Cameron & Clegg.

To my mind, this has certain advantages. 1) Labour, and particular Brown, are out of office and will hopefully be so consumed in such bitter in-fighting over the next few years that they will remain so for a long time to come. 2) Cameron gets to try and implement his Big Society idea, but through a tenuous majority that means they’ll have to tread slowly and carefully, and they’ll have to bring a lot of people along with them rather than steamrolling through legislation. 3) Politicians of all hues are made keenly aware that none of them has the unequivocal backing of the people to rule and that the people will not tolerate more mistakes and hypocrisy at the top.

I personally believe that politics, like religion, should be ones own affair. Consequently, I made a conscious decision some time ago to keep whatever frustration and anger I felt about the present UK administration out of this blog. However, as we enter a new decade – and particularly as we enter what will be an election year – I feel it is worth reflecting on the record of this government in office. The article below was published in the Telegraph.

 

All governments get into scrapes, make mistakes, let people down – that’s the nature of politics. But it’s hard to think of any government in recent memory that has behaved quite so shamefully, quite so frequently, as this one. At the turn of the decade, here’s a reminder of just how low Labour has stooped.

1. Tony Blair led the country to war on the basis of a lie – the 45-minute dossier was a disgraceful manipulation of some very sketchy intelligence. More than 200 soldiers have been killed, a similar number grievously wounded, while tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians have lost their lives.

2. The suicide of Dr David Kelly after he had been exposed by Downing Street as the source of leaks to the BBC about the soundness of weapons intelligence (see above). The most nauseating moment in this episode came courtesy of Alastair  Campbell, an unelected Labour functionary, who summoned a press conference to crow over the findings of the Hutton inquiry into Kelly’s death which inexplicably decided it was all the BBC’s fault.

3. Tony Blair’s warmongering extended beyond Iraq – there was Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan – but a common theme was that British forces were routinely expected to put their lives on the line with inadequate kit and equipment. Much of the responsibility for that lies with Gordon Brown who, as Chancellor,  just did not “get” the military.

4. Brown’s uncontested accession to the premiership – after years spent undermining Blair – revealed just how rotten Labour had become. This was more akin to the Politburo than a modern democratic party. The one consolation is that it has proved an unmitigated disaster for Labour.

5. While Chancellor, Brown perfected a whole armoury of tricks to obscure what he was actually doing – double and triple counting, endless re-announcements of the same policy, stealth taxes by the score. So intent was he on his smoke and mirrors games that he seemed not to notice he was sending the economy down the tubes.

6. Bernie Ecclestone’s £1 million donation to Labour was an early indicator that Labour’s moral compass was non-existent and that Blair’s claim to be a “pretty straight kind of guy” was to be taken with a sackful of salt.

7. Parliament under Labour has been utterly marginalised. Both Blair and Brown have treated the Commons with contempt and we now have the weakest (as well as most dishonest) legislature in memory.

8. Labour’s failure even to attempt to control immigration has led to profound changes in this country that people did not want. Yet any attempt to debate the issue was branded racist by Labour – until it finally dawned on them (far too late) that their own supporters were furious about the changing nature of their communities.

9. A spending binge without precedent in this country’s history has delivered the most paltry improvements in the public services. A great opportunity to modernise Britain has simply been frittered away.

10. Labour’s Big Brother intrusiveness into all aspects of our lives is without precedent outside communist or fascist regimes. A government that has trumpeted its commitment to human rights has systematically eroded them.

To this list, we could also add the explosion of violent crime; the destruction of the education system; the miring of enterprise and initiative in miles of red tape; the traitorous signing-away of British sovereignty to the EU; 3000 new criminal offences created with the intention of criminalising decent honest people, while ignoring the activities of the true criminal underclass; fostering the parasitic benefits culture; presiding over the breakup of the normal family values; ….the list goes on.

Although I pray nightly to see Blair, Brown and Campbell swinging from the gibbet for treason and war crimes, if I have one wish for 2010 it is that Labour are not just swept from power, but humiliated at the polls.

I saw this post, written by an American lady called Helen Philpot concerning George Bush’s “shoe-dodging” incident. I can’t help thinking the views she expresses are echoed by a lot of American people, and certainly one held by this Englishman.

Well, I would have written sooner but I couldn’t stop laughing long enough to type more than a sentence or two.  Oh my goodness but did any of you see the incident with the Iraqi journalist, Muntathar al Zaidi, throwing his shoes at Georgie Boy?  I gotta believe there are millions of us who have wanted to do that very same thing.  It’s too bad Zaidi didn’t hit his intended target because he just might have knocked some sense into that thick Bush skull.  Not to mention the lucrative Nike contract that surely would have followed.

Eventually I did stop laughing, however, because after the initial reaction wore off, I started paying attention to the gravity of the situation.  In truth, it is not funny at all.  Offering someone the “sole of your shoe” is considered a grave insult in the Arab world.

But even more sobering is what  Zaidi said as he threw the shoes: “This is a farewell kiss, you dog. This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq.” And after he was knocked to the ground he continued saying, “Killer of Iraqis, killer of children.”

OK. I am not thinking it is all that funny anymore. How about you?

But the way Bush reacted is probably the best example of why our 43rd President should be run out of town on a rail. After the shoe incident, Bush tried to laugh it all off by saying, “It didn’t bother me, and if you want the facts it was a size 10 shoe he threw at me.”

Well it should bother him, at least a little bit.  He is indeed responsible for thousands of widows and orphans. His orders to war did indeed result in the deaths of children.  Now look.  I understand that war is hell and unintended casualties are going to happen no matter how hard we try to avoid them. But this isn’t the first time Bush has displayed an apparent “carefree” attitude towards his presidency.

Three months after the World Trade Center went down, Bush was quoted as saying, “It’s been a fabulous year for Laura and me.” And in a more recent interview last month, he summed up his entire presidency as “a fabulous experience”.

Fabulous? Really? Not so much for the rest of us.

Maybe it’s just me, but when you are President during war time, you probably shouldn’t act like you are enjoying it quite so much.   Maybe more time pondering the consequences of your actions and less time feeling fabulous…

Folks, let me apologize in advance because I feel a big rant coming on. I can’t contain myself any longer. This moron of a soon to be past-President is a disgrace and a stain on the reputation of the United States of America. No that’s not good enough yet. I’m feeling like one of those Dixie Chicks and I think I need to say some more. George Bush is an asshole and a real son of a bitch. And yes, I did meet Barbara Bush once and I am not taking that statement back.

I am making a request of future generations:  The next time a village loses its idiot, please don’t elect him or her President.  Thank you.

There, I feel a better… but only slightly.

My apologies to all you good people out there who stopped by to read what I have to say. You probably deserved better than that last little rant. But I am glad you stopped by and I do hope you will again. I mean it. Really.

If the shoe fits « Margaret and Helen

(Old Cynic's Perspective)

1. Teaching Maths In 1970

A logger sells a truckload of timber for £100.
His cost of production is 4/5 of the price.
What is his profit?
2. Teaching Maths In 1980
A logger sells a truckload of timber for £100.
His cost of production is 4/5 of the price, or £80.
What is his profit?
3. Teaching Maths In 1990
A logger sells a truckload of timber for £100.
His cost of production is £80.
Did he make a profit?
4. Teaching Maths In 2000
A logger sells a truckload of timber for £100.
His cost of production is £80 and his profit is £20.
Your assignment: Underline the number 20.

5. Teaching Maths In 2008
A logger cuts down a beautiful forest because he is selfish and inconsiderate and cares nothing for the habitat of animals or the preservation of our woodlands.
He does this so he can make a profit of £20.
What do you think of this way of making a living?
Topic for class participation after answering the question: How did the birds and squirrels feel as the logger cut down their homes?
(There are no wrong answers. )
6. Teaching Maths In 2018
أ المسجل تبيع حموله شاحنة من الخشب من اجل 100 دولار. صاحب تكلفة
الانتاج من الثمن. ما هو الربح له؟

We’ve just watched the live announcement that Barack Obama has secured his place in history as the first African-American president of the USA. I feel the American people have done themselves proud, and in so doing have taken a big step towards healing the rifts and bridging the divides that cause so many problems in our world. I have felt from the outset of this campaign that what the world needs is a visionary, a healer and a reconciler of differences. I hope and pray that America has delivered that to all of us tonight.

Of John McCain, much as I have disagreed with his rhetoric, his speech conceding defeat to Obama was that of a true gentleman; a dignified and sincere plea to the American people to get behind the new president. Alas, the same could not be said for some of his more redneck supporters who booed at the mention of Obama’s name. But to my mind, this has what this campaign has been all about: The replacement of Bush’s simplistic, gun-toting, redneck world view with a more considered, intelligent and engaging attitude to the world and its different peoples and cultures. I would say that, judging by tonight’s emphatic vote, the American people agree with that sentiment. Well done America – you exemplify the true spirit of democracy.

Now all we need to do is great rid of those arseholes in Number 10, and maybe we can all move forward to a better world.

I took a break from work today to watch the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing. Normally I’m not that interested in sporting events, but there has been so much speculation and hype about the opening ceremony that I felt compelled to watch. I wasn’t disappointed.

The Olympics is a significant global event, but this one has a particular importance, as I’m sure it will be seen by history as a watershed in China’s relationship with the world. The day that China truly strode onto the world stage. And what a fitting entrance they made: It was an incredible show. I was genuinely – and unexpectedly – moved by the sheer scale of it; the colossal effort that had clearly been put into it by each and every person involved. As I marvelled at the spectacle, I felt uplifted by the humanity of it all; what a remarkable race we humans are to be able to work together on such a vast scale and with such precision to achieve great things.

Then I had a thought that brought me back to Earth with a bump: Remember Tony Blair’s “Rivers of Fire”? Let me remind you – it was the huge firework display that was supposed to have lit up London on Millennium Night? The one that – with no explanation - just didn’t happen. Not even a sparkler.

The Chinese have laid an enormous challenge for London to rise to in 2012. If this pathetic government couldn’t even organise a firework display, what hope do they have of delivering something on such a vast scale as the Olympics. I have a deep sense of foreboding that just as the 2008 Olympics will be remembered as heralding China’s triumphant renaissance, 2012 will be seen as the event that marked UK’s shambling exit from the world stage.

From the Appalling Strangeness...

Officially:
Downing Street has insisted Gordon Brown was just "doing what he was told" after apparently getting lost at the state banquet for Nicolas Sarkozy.

The Queen apparently commented:
"The prime minister got lost. He disappeared the wrong way...at the crucial moment."Sounds like a sage comment not just for the banquet, but pretty much everything Brown has been involved in since he became Prime Minister.

"At London Heathrow Terminal 5 we’ve created a natural, logical journey that’s so calm, you’ll flow through. It should only take ten minutes to get from check-in to departures ".

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

Regular readers will no doubt be fully aware of the low regard in which I hold the idiots in charge of immigration in this country. But this week, even I was astonished to discover the depths of inhumanity that these slimy jobsworths have now reached. In a decision labelled "atrocious barbarism" by no less a publication than the Lancet, our friends at the Home Office Immigration & Nationality Directorate forcibly expatriated a Ghanan woman dying of cancer. The life-saving treatment she desperately needed was not available in her native Ghana, and so the victim, Mrs Sumani, died shortly afterwards. Mrs Sumani is survived by two children. Friends in the UK had raised over £60,000 to bring her back to the UK for the treatment she so desperately needed, but unfotunately the help came too late.

Mrs Sumani had apparently come to the UK to study, but became ill while she was here. Unluckily for Mrs Sumani, and unlike the hundreds of thousands of immigrants who intentionally enter this country illegally, the IND knew exactly where she could be found and so she presented an easy addition to this month's deportation tally. We have to meet those targets, after all.

Lin Homer, the agency's chief executive, is reported as commenting: "The case was carefully considered by both trained caseworkers but also through the independent judicial process, which is better and fairer than a decision by me as chief executive or by the minister."

Irrespective of the legal technicalities, how any human being can carefully consider the pros and cons of this case and conclude that condemning another human being to death is the correct course of action to take completely elludes me. I fervently hope that Lin Homer and all her lackies at the IND suffer the same agonising and undiginified deaths that they consigned Mrs Sumani to. Furthermore, I hope the bastards rot in hell for all eternity afterwards - a fate they so richly deserve.

MoD admits to losing 11,000 ID cards
By Nick Heath Published on Silicon.com
Published: 13 March 2008 13:05 GMT

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has admitted that more than 11,000 military ID cards have been lost or stolen in the past two years. Defence minister Bob Ainsworth admitted that 4,433 ID cards disappeared in 2006 and a further 6,812 went missing from July 2006 to December 2007. He revealed the loss in a written answer to Parliament in response to a question by shadow defence secretary Dr Liam Fox. The revelation prompted condemnation from opposition parties who said that it made a mockery of security procedures at military facilities and showed a scandalous disregard for the security of British citizens.

In a statement, the MoD said: "We take the loss of military ID cards very seriously and we are taking steps to improve general security awareness. Military ID cards form one part of the security measures we have in place. They have photographic ID on them, so it would be difficult for them to be used by individuals they have not been assigned to."

The government has suffered many data security breaches over the past five months, including the MoD having three laptops stolen containing approximately 600,000 servicemen's and recruits' details, the NHS losing hundreds of thousands of patient records, the DVLA losing three million learner drivers' details and the HMRC losing 25 million child benefit details.

The BBC today reported that the mother of the British teenager murdered in Goa is to be questioned about her possible negligence in allowing her 15 year old daughter to stay alone which she swanned off to another part of India. It has now come to light that the murdered girl was having a sexual relationship with the older man the mother had entrusted with her daughter's care. On top of that, it transpires that the girl was last seen at a bar, where she was reportedly "off her face" on drink and drugs the night she was killed.

And they are questioning the mother about "possible" negligence? I've never heard of a clearer case of wanton neglect. What kind of digusting excuse for a mother entrusts her daughter's safety to a paedophile while she endulges her selfish whims? Her pathetic whining about how she was "naive" is presumably meant as some kind of excuse for her failure. From the look of her, the mother is some kind of hippy/new age traveller hangover who clearly feels under no obligation to adhere to any kind of standard that most people would consider normal. Clearly, she feels it is perfectly acceptable for her 15 year old daughter to indulge in drinking, drugs and under age sex. Wrong. If it's the case that she was aware of all this going on, she should be bloody well locked up as an accomplice to murder, as by her neglect, her selfishness and lack of parental control, she is just as guilty as the murder themself.

As reported on The Apalling Strangeness
According to Sky News, government ministers are changing their tack on ID cards. Instead of blatantly trying to ram them down our throats through fear, they are going to use a softer sell to ram them down our throats.

Instead of government ministers and police officers talking tough and insisting they need us to carry ID cards to beat terrorism, the emphasis will shift to persuading us that we'll be missing out if we fail to sign up to the scheme.My gut instinct says "I’ll miss out then, thank you very much."But the government has anticipated that sort of response. And now we have the muted threat behind the ID card scheme – that you are just going to miss out on some things, but really miss out on crucial things:

'Entitlement' seems to be the buzzword. The card being portrayed as the way we can access the state benefits and public services that we're entitled to.Right. So I still have to pay for an ID card to access services that I am already entitled to and have already paid for. Jesus Christ, that is a bit of a mind fuck. It is like Tesco saying "I know you’ve just bought your weekly shop, paid for it ‘n’ all, but we’re not going to let you take those goods until that you are entitled to and have paid for until you have signed up for a Clubcard. Oh, and we are going to charge you a small fucking fortune for the Clubcard as well."They'd be out of business within a week.

It doesn’t matter how you try to sell ID cards; it doesn’t matter whether you use a soft or hard sell. It doesn’t matter if you market them using Bob the Builder singing "Happy Talk". They are still an expensive mistake. They are still a shit idea. Ultimately, they are still a very dangerous idea.The government seems to think it can change the minds of those who oppose ID cards using this sort of mindless, facile tactic. No, you won’t change our minds because we know ID cards are wrong.

As of yesterday, new immigration restrictions came into force in the UK. Not content with persecuting those who have spent a fortune for the dubious priviledge of coming here and have abided by all he rules, the government has now decided that even skilled immigrants to this country, that's the doctors, teachers, scientists and engineers - you know, the people with something to contribute - now have to amass "points" to retain the right to stay here or be thrown out. Meanwhile, a jobless Romanian teenage mother who has generously decided to allow the British taxpayer to feed, clothe, educate and care for her bastard offspring in perpituity can enter and stay for as long as she wants. What a brilliant bit of policy making that was.

I'm sure that as some point I must have missed some vital piece of information in this whole immigration saga, because it seems to me that the whole system is totally upside down. How can it be right that skilled and valuable people are thrown out, while the scum of Europe are given the keys to the front door and told to make themselves at home.

Britain is experiencing the worst "brain drain" of any country as highly qualified professionals settle abroad, an authoritative international study showed yesterday, writes Robert Winnett, Deputy Political Editor of the Telegraph.

Record numbers of Britons are leaving - many of them doctors, teachers and engineers - in the biggest exodus for almost 50 years.There are now 3.247 million British-born people living abroad, of whom more than 1.1 million are highly-skilled university graduates, say the researchers.More than three quarters of these professionals have settled abroad for more than 10 years, according to the study by the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).No other nation is losing so many qualified people, it points out. Britain has now lost more than one in 10 of its most skilled citizens, while overall only Mexico has had more people emigrate. Britain's exodus is far higher than any of the OECD's other 29 members. Germany has lost only 860,000 highly-skilled workers, America 410,000 and France 370,000.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics last year, suggested that 207,000 Britons - one every three minutes - left in 2006. The emigration rate is at its highest since just after the Second World War. The term brain drain was coined in the 1950s following the mass emigration of scientists and other experts to America. Tens of thousands of people also left the country to escape the industrial unrest and high taxes of the 1970s.

Damian Green, the shadow immigration minister, said: "Ten years of Labour has re-created the brain drain. High taxes and Government interference are driving people away."

The study found that foreign-born people make up 8.3 per cent of Britain's population. A House of Lords report into the economic impact of migration is due next month. Prof David Coleman, of St John's, Oxford, said the brain drain was "to do with quality of life, laws and bureaucracy, tax and all the rest of it".

Given the revelation that perhaps the "special relationship" isn't so special after all, maybe it's time to consider a bit of rebranding for the UK. My suggestion would be to replace the proud British lion with a toothless, naive and trusting puppy dog. Maybe we could call it Tony.

I find it hard to understand why our politicians seem unable to grasp the most basic fact about American foreign policy: It exists solely to protect American interests. Anyone who thinks otherwise is a naive fool. There is no special relationship, and I don't believe there ever was. Where was the USA in 1940 when we stood alone against Hitler?

Tony Blair and his idiot cohorts fell hook line and sinker for Bush's lies and misinformation. Ignoring the justified scepticism of our more mature European cousins (not to mention the 2 million people who marched in central London against the war), Blair blindly followed the American line without question, taking us into an illegal and pointless war which has destroyed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. To say we look pretty bloody stupid is a bit of an understatement.

We have gained nothing by war in Iraq except making ourselves the number one target for terrorists. Brave British soldiers are risking their lives every day, fighting a war that brings us nothing. America, on the other hand, now has control of the second largest oil reserves on the planet, which they are busy pumping out through a newly constructed oil terminal in Israel.

The word I would use for what Blair and Campbell, Straw and all the others have done is treason. Until recently, we used to shoot people for it. If only....

I notice that the topic of immigration has once again reared its head in the media. And once again, we are hearing tough words from Smith, Brown et al about how they are going to tackle the issue. And once again, either by stupidity or by design, they've missed the bloody point. Instead of tackling the real issues, they are once again using blunderbus legislation which unfairly penalises the long-suffering, law-abiding residents like us without touching those individuals causing all the problems.

Smith is talking about making it even tougher to stay in the UK if you are from outside the EU. So that's families like us, forced to cough up even larger sums of money (we've spent £2,500 in the last 3 years just to keep our family together) and jump through even more ridiculous hoops ("Life in the UK" etc). Meanwhile, the country is flooded with hordes of East Europeans, causing huge pressures on our ailing law enforcement, health and social services. It's a classic bit of sleight of hand from this government: distract the public with a bit of finger pointing and tough talk, while completely ignoring the real problem.

My wife views this attitude as pure racism, and I find it hard to argue with that. This government's attittude seems to be to pick on the brown, black and yellow skinned people, while allowing the white-skinned christians from Europe to flood in unchecked. For proof about this government's bias, look at recent cases like that poor Philipino guy whose wife was killed by an incompetant NHS trust, or the case of Hartley Alleyne- a former West Indian test cricketer and teacher in Canterbury for 30 years - threatened with deportation because he didn't have the right NVQ.

I absolutely refute the argument that mass migration from East Europe is delivering any kind of benefit to this country. Even the ones that are working legally and paying taxes do so at a lower rate than their native counterparts, thus devaluing the work market. Speak to any plumber or carpenter if you don't believe me. The money they earn is invariably sent back to their home country and so does nothing to benefit our economy.

So while this government steals the headlines with tough talk about immigration, law-abiding and valued contributors to our society are turned away by punitive legislation, while the tsunami of unskilled East European immigrants continues unchecked. Brilliant strategy. I can't wait to leave.

Hot on the heels of the Child Benefit data disaster and the foreign prisoner fiasco, we have another digital cock-up. This time it's the Home Office again - a CD containing the DNA details of 2000 wanted criminals sent by the Dutch police was left unactioned on some idiot's desk for over a year. Checks carried out recently reveal that 15 of these suspects are in the UK and 11 of them have gone on to commit further serious crime here. Well done Home Office.

I think we've all become somewhat immune to hearing about civil service and government blundering, but coming so soon after similar high-profile incidents, it is quite amazing that nothing seems to have been done to sort the problem out. The reason being, I suspect, is that the management culture in government and in the civil service has been allowed to flounder to such an extent that change is now impossible. To put it bluntly, we are not only being led by idiots but also administered by them too, through systems which perpetuate a culture of failure.

In this latest incident, the useless recipient of this vital data decided to go on sick leave for a year. What does it say about the management of this section that apparently nobody was given the task of covering this role during their absence? If such measures were not deemed necessary, then why does this role even exist in the first place? I strongly suspect that the reason for absence is something suitably pathetic, like "stress", but even if this individual had good reason to be absent for such a long period, surely any half-decent manager would have either covered the role with a short-term contract or replaced them altogether, moving "sick note" into a new role upon their return.

What this case reveals in stark detail is the total ineptitude of those charged with administering this country; a culture where the individual rights of those within these organisations takes total precedence over their responsibilities. I despair that even if we manage to get rid of Brown at the next election, we're still saddled with his legions of incompentant monkeys running the country.