Teenage Thugs Kill Shopkeeper

For those of us who have seen low level violence bubbling up towards a real life Clockwork Orange, again we see it boiling into the public eye.

Cameron waffles on about Broken Britain, Labour denies anything is wrong, yet for those of us without a privileged background or ministerial salaries and perks insulating us from the world at large, it's something more than a political football, or bait for vote fishing.

Mr Singh was that most British of institutions, a shopkeeper, and going about running his business when a gang of kids felt they wanted his possessions and in taking them also took his life.

The talking heads can babble away, and we can hear any number of wet blankets talk about solutions that have more to do with textbook theory than reality, but as with our fearless leaders they live in ivory towers.

It's time we declared war. Our government is happy to wage battle on the danger of Islamic fundamentalists, yet feels no compulsion to offer a similar front on the wider and more entrenched danger of the feral creatures who have discarded their moral compasses for avarice and threat.

They need to be told that has to change. Yes, we can place long term solutions into effect, in order to stop future generations creating borderline animals predating on the general population, but that doesn't solve the current predicament.

We need to be unrelenting and harsh, as this is not a war we started, but it is one we must end, and end victorious, for all the other problems in society cannot be solved whilst this cancer eats away at it.

Will any political party stand up and be counted on this?

Brown "I Never Hit Anyone"

Given his relationship with the truth tends to be more flexible than a gold medallist gymnast, perhaps they just ran into his fist?

That 21 Hour Working Week Concept

Okay, the report from the New Economics Forum was last week, but I've been a tad busy with work and life.

Now this actually makes a kind of sense, both from employee and employer perspectives, but with some important caveats.

From the employee standpoint, a 4 day weekend is no bad thing - plenty more time to smell the roses and enjoy life.

From the employers standpoint, they ALL can add Saturday as a regular working week. Offices generally have Saturdays off, but having two people doing the same job 3 days a week gives an extra full day - and hence get projects completed quicker, and the opportunity to do more work in a year - an extra 52 days productivity is nothing to sniff at for a profitable firm.

Now for the problems! Now I personally would be happy to drop my contracting wages to a 3 days a week, but that's me - can't quite see everyone jumping for joy. Struggling with a mortgage? Well, hell, struggle some more! Without reducing household debt substantially, this isn't going to go anywhere.

That's a hard sell. Economically speaking, from an individuals perspective, this would be a bad thing without a boost in wages that didn't have a corresponding boost in inflation. Given the economic situation I can't quite see businesses being happy to drop wages 20% in exchange for a 40% drop in the working week, and then - for those doing okay or better in the current climate - pay the same for another person to work the extra three days. Unless they're a business with a major mark-up that's a no-can-do.

And why base it on 7 hours a day? Why not 8? A drop from 37.5 hours to 24 hours a week is a slightly less bitter pill to swallow.

And the most important bit. What if businesses don't want to do this? Another fucking law? Use the carrot of tax cuts, sure, but keep any legal stick the hell out of this!

In a short, it's a lovely dream, but one I strongly doubt we shall see. The business climate is pretty good for it right now, but the personal debt one looks pretty unsurmountable.

And Following My Last Post...

Keeping that old racial harmony vibe going!

Around 20 Asian youths vs two 14 year olds and a 23 year old. Fucking cowards.

Oldhams Asian Male Youth Strike Again!

It's become pretty much accepted now that the majority of young male Asians in Oldham, and for that matter Rochdale, are in fact complete and utter dickheads. This is a view shared by pretty much everyone, regardless of colour or creed - ask an Asian girl and she'll probably describe them as such too.

Last night got to see it in action again, one lad decided to go in a bar and cause trouble - spat in the barman's face and tossed a glass out of his hand, then stomped out. A few regulars followed, not helping matters with the phrases they used (the lad may have been the aggressor, but calling him a black bastard is hardly going to make you look like an innocent party is it?), where he then went back for seconds with a couple of mates... I decided to get out of Dodge at that point, but as we left, one of the Asian lads was doing a fine impersonation of a horizontal body.

It isn't a rough bar - it's a gay-friendly studenty place away from the main strip, and away from the usual idiots. Hopefully the CCTV footage will resolve everything. We shall see.

And of course, earlier in the week we had three Asians in their 20's ambush a schoolkid. Oldham produces a lot of violent fruitcakes of all kinds, but there is a disproportionate number of them in the Asian community and it needs tackling head on.

Of course tackling it isn't politically expedient, and right now Oldham councillors are chasing votes - we're having our umpteenth review into maybe having a leisure facility (we tend to have one near an election, and its gets abandoned when they're re-elected...), and they're finally trying to help the local rugby club (who they disgracefully hung out to dry many years ago) in a desperate scrabble for votes - so, probably nothing will be done.

More resentment, more anger for the likes of the BNP to feed upon.

Just How Fucking Thick is Melanie Phillips?

I was just about to switch off Question Time last night, when I desisted for a few moments when I heard a contender for the Most Moronic Quote of the Year, which given it's still February is something of an achievement.

Apparently most people who want to be assisted in their suicide are depressed. No? Really? I'd have thought it was all the happy ones clamouring to shuffle off this mortal coil! It would appear having a debilitating disease that obliterates your quality of life makes you a bit unhappy, well frankly I'm shocked, I'd have expected such people to go roller-blading whilst trilling the Greatest Hits of the 70's.

I mean, if being told that doesn't instil a desire to belt out the fact that Rasputin was Russia's greatest love machine to the whole, wide world, what else will?

Melanie Phillips, you are fucking stupid. If your life is being destroyed in such a manner that you are considering asking family members to off you because you're too damn ill to do the deed yourself, then I'm thinking you're not going to be filled with joy - quite the opposite. Of course they going to be depressed, not only are they considering ending their life, but they're going to have to bring in help. I cannot begin to think about how terrible a thought that must be.