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(Pictured: Collectible 'Golliwog' badges from Robertson's Marmalade).This week we have a bumper crop of news stories from the UK which show the current priorities of the powers that be and the state of our nation. So, without further ado...
1) I think the biggest 'cultural clash' in the news this week came from Carol Thatcher's use of the term 'Golliwog' to describe a black tennis player.
Unwise, certainly, but it's OK, because several employees of the BBC got so uncontrollably angry that they reported Miss Thatcher behind her back, and she was sacked.
I must remind you that in the modern world this word is considered so absolutely, gratuitously offensive that if a famous person uses it in a private exchange, it must be repeated in the national media no less than 20 times a day until the person concerned has done the decent thing and hurled themselves from Tower Bridge whilst sobbing penance.
To be fair, I think this term is offensive when said directly to another person, and a few years ago it was neutered to become 'golly'. However, that does not seem to be good enough, because there was further uproar when it emerged that 'Golliwog' dolls were on sale at the Queen's Sandringham gift shop. This led to much hand wringing, and the closing of the suitcase in which they sat in the display window, in turn leading to helpful 'before' and 'after' photographs. Just in case we were in any doubt over how that evil racist had tried to cover her tracks or something.
This second revelation led to a storm of controversy, my favourite example of which is the imaginatively titled Facebook group 'WTF?! the queen of england ain't allowed to sell racist toys!'
I would email the moderator and ask them to define 'racist', but seeing as they can't spell, punctuate, string a proper sentence together or bother to look up the actual title of the monarch they are disparaging, there doesn't seem much point.
The 'Golliwog' certainly belongs to another era, but I personally see no cause for seeking out and destroying every last one. I thought it was a real wrench with tradition when Robertson's Jam stopped giving away tokens for Golly badges with each jar, as they'd been doing it for generations. I can't help but feel this situation is less about 'racism' and more about controlling what people do and think. Carol Thatcher's silliness is one thing; but to strike the Golliwog from the face of the earth is quite another. I am as entitled to find the badges a part of our history and culture as anyone else is to find them offensive.
2) To continue our 'The George Orwell Prize for Effectively Controlling Thought Crime' theme, a nurse was suspended this week because she offered to pray for an ill elderly patient. It seems that being a Christian (publicly, at least) is becoming increasingly unacceptable to the authorities here in Britain.
What struck me as particularly odd was the language used to justify the suspension; she was accused of "failing to demonstrate a personal and professional commitment to equality and diversity" and told "you must not use your professional status to promote causes that are not related to health."
Is it just me, or are these two statements contradictory? What on earth does 'diversity', Orwellian left-wing speech codes and curbing one's personal compassion have to do with health? Would they say the same thing to a nurse of any other religion?
It seems to me that again, this is not about diversity or respect, but about deconstructing what was once mainstream culture and replacing it with anything else that comes along. Fortunately, the nurse was reinstated, but this still seems rather ominous.
3) Next up, something outrageous tempered with common sense.
Apparently, it is something called 'Gay History Month'. I prefer plain old February myself. However, some officers serving with London's Metropolitan Police evidently disagree, for they replaced the Union Flag with the rainbow flag of the 'LGBT' movement. It has also emerged that in north Wales, said rainbow flag will fly over the force - sorry, service - HQ all month.
However, when Sir Paul Stevenson, the new Commissioner of the Met, heard that Limehouse nick had come over all PC (OK, pun intended), he immediately ordered that the flag be taken down, an admirable decision for which I laud him. The police should be on the streets enforcing the law, a job they do increasingly poorly, not trying to force a political agenda down the throats of the public.
In spite of this, some Metropolitan Police spokesman was forced to grovel to 'Pink News' (Europe's largest gay news service) that:
"The Met is supporting LGBT History Month through events "aimed at encouraging victims of hate crime to report incidents to police, and to celebrate the contribution made by LGBT people in the Met.
"As part of our activities officers will be attending LGBT venues to encourage people who may suffer or witness hate crime to come forward; holding seminars on safety issues for people in the LGBT community; promoting our LGBT liaison officers for victims to approach as well as participating in other educational and cultural events."
"As part of our activities officers will be attending LGBT venues to encourage people who may suffer or witness hate crime to come forward; holding seminars on safety issues for people in the LGBT community; promoting our LGBT liaison officers for victims to approach as well as participating in other educational and cultural events."
That's odd, because I thought they were paid to prevent crime, arrest criminals and protect the public. Perhaps this revelation explains why the long-suffering tax payers who fund this nonsense are getting such terrible service.
4) 'Lord' Nazir Ahmed's threat to lead 10,000 Muslims on parliament if Geert Wilders was invited to screen Fitna has been ignored, and apparently the invitation has been extended and the screening will go ahead, in the House of Lords.
He hadn't quite finished making a spectacle of himself, however; he called for any British Jews who served with the IDF in the recent Gaza campaign to be arrested upon their return to Britain and tried for 'war crimes'.
Surely if we're going to be completely fair, Nazir Ahmed is then guilty of treason for attempting to subvert parliament? I can't help but notice that when certain individuals with 'links' to Britain were released from Guantanamo Bay (not because their innocence had been established, mind), Ahmed was not one of the many who demanded they be tried for treason. So, if you fight in a civilised Western army when you have dual-citizenship you're a criminal, but if you join a gang of terrorists in an attempt to kill British and allied troops, despite all this country has done for you, you're a poor lamb who's being picked on. Aren't double standards wonderful?
5) A brief note once more from the world of the Metropolitan Police. After the Chinese PM arrived in Britain for trade talks with Gordon Brown, there was a protest outside the Chinese embassy. Protesters concerned about Tibet and human rights issues in China broke through the lines, and were man-handled, despite some being diminutive females.
Unless the Met's 'diversity' commissars specifically asked the officers to help the Chinese feel at home, I can't help but compare this footage of a young Chinese woman being dragged away in a headlock by two policemen to this. It seems those brave boys in blue don't fancy their chances against marauding Muslim crowds screaming 'Kuffar', 'poofs', 'cowards', 'swine' and 'Allahuakbar'. Shame it's their job, really.
6) Peter Mandelson has miraculously clung on to his job yet again after reaching a deal with British workers striking over an Italian company's plans to import its own staff. Quite why the British government needs this individual is beyond me... But the Tories thought up an excellent new poster, 'Mandy Antoinette', then didn't have the guts to use it. Telling. I have added the advert to the sidebar, as it really is very good.
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