ASSANGER THAN FICTION

Following a lost appeal in Britain’s Supreme Court,  Antipidean  whistle blower, Julian Assange may well be heading for a short Scandinavian break.  He lost the appeal on a majority decision following some pretty esoteric arguments involving” the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties”, as not discussed in court, and what constitutes a "competent judicial authority”.  The fear is that, once in Sweden for questioning, Mr Assange will be handed over to the USA authorities who still have unfinished business with him.  Assange, through his website Wikileaks, made public thousands of confidential e-mails, much to the embarrassment of the US and UK.  Shortly afterwards, in a totally unrelated incident, the consensual sex which JA claimed he had indulged in with a couple of Wikileaks workers suddenly became non-consensual.  Mr Assange was warned at the time of the release of the e mails, that putting these documents into the public arena could well put individuals in great danger.  Well, that has certainly proved true for one person, himself.

A BEECROFT IN HIS BONNET

It appears that the redoubtable Dr Cable is fighting the good fight on behalf of the ordinary citizen, against the onslaught of the Tories and their Hurray Henry advisors. The latest being venture capitalist and financial loony Adrian Beecroft.  Beecroft claims that allowing the summary dismissal of staff will lead to improved employment opportunities. What next?  The  elimination of all quadrapeds on Earth to create additional openings for evolution and the killing of all male children to generate  improved opportunities for women?  The ordinary worker is feeling insecure and is therefore unwilling to spend, and this is part of our current financial problem.  Will it be improved by the addition of a sword of Damocles?  I suspect not!  Think again Mr Beecroft…or even better ……… just think.

CHANGING CHANNELS

Today, the death was announced of Eugene Polley, the inventor of the television remote control, aged 96.

He would have died some time ago but the Grim Reaper was unable to find him.  He was hiding under the sofa.

STICKS AND STONES

…..may break my bones but names can never hurt me.  Or so you thought.  A coalition of MPs across the political spectrum are calling for the scrapping of Section Five of the Public Order Act which makes the use of insulting words or behaviour illegal.  The act makes it a criminal offence to use a word which might be likely to cause offence. The haul of super criminals to date includes Peter Tatchell for protesting against the Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir , who advocate the death penalty for homosexuals, and a student who suggested that a police horse was gay (good thing for the horse that he escaped the attention of  Hizb ut-Tahrir).  It is goodbye free speech and only one step from the “Thought Police”. What idiot was responsible for that.  OMG, that could be regarded as an insulting comment.  Is that a knock on my door. Farewell.  See you in Wormwood Scrubs.

JUNK STATUS

The credit rating agency Moody's has downgraded 16 Spanish banks after an alleged run on Bankia, Spain’s fourth largest bank, and worry about the Spanish government’s ability to shore up their banking system. But wait, is this not the same Moody’s that rated the US junk investments, based on sub-prime mortgages as AAA?  Who is watching the watchers, who is rating the rating agencies.  Who gave these undemocratic, secretive, organisations all this power?  Rating CCC , I think.

IT'S ALL GREEK TO ME

The world breathes a sigh of relief as the Greek financial crisis is over.  With politicians unable to agree on a functional coalition, a new election is to be held in five weeks time.  Think of the work involved , new voting slips to be printed, polling stations to be manned, votes to be counted……. work for thousands of Greeks……  a  true growth industry.  Repeat every five weeks and the problem’s solved. 

HUNT

Charlie Brooks has described the attack on his wife as a witch hunt.  That's hardly gallant, Charlie, but I hope you enjoy life as a toad.