Useful Fools

In political jargon, useful idiot (fools) is a term for people perceived as propagandists for a cause whose goals they are not fully aware of, and who are used cynically by the leaders of the cause.

We are seeing that now with the reaction to the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) in the UK who grow in popularity day by day despite the dirty tricks campaign of the establishment and the many groups who proclaim to fight for those suffering injustice but without realising are actually supporting the very people they are fighting against.  Hook, line and sinker these people are reeled in swallowing the propaganda of those who manipulate their protests, feeding them disinformation, lies and false witness,  Accusations of racism as a way of closing down debate and stories of right wing opinion that would scare even the most liberal minded are force fed by the main stream media to the masses who don't have the time or inclination to check their veracity.

So finding out that this dirty tricks campaign is being driven by a conspiracy, yes a real conspiracy by the UK, EU and US comes as no surprise to those of us with a nose close to the ground and a close eye on the internet.

The New World Order does not want an independent UK because it threatens their dream of a subservient and submissive EU and so they, the established and Old Order will do everything in their power to retain their undeserved and long held privileged position as controllers of our destiny even if we don't want the destiny they chose for us.

The UK is a beacon to the world due to its adherence to the rule of law, democracy, free speech and liberty, if the UK falls to these manipulators and carpet baggers, the rest of the world will surely follow.

We have a fight on our hands, a fight as serious and as difficult as any our country has faced in its long and glorious history.  We can't and won't give in to the traitors amongst us who without a care would give up over a thousand years of hard fought for freedoms and democracy, it would be an insult to all of those that have gone before us if we did.

You can read about the skullduggery and underhand tricks being played out now, click on the following article which highlights the dirty dealings of these reprobates.  They have no loyalty to any country or person, their only aim is to increase their power and personal wealth at our expense.

UK, EU, and US Governments Fund Group Pushing Anti-UKIP Propaganda

Mz Peachez & Her Casanovas

Mz Peachez & Her Casanovas who my friends and I saw at Buddy Guys Club whilst staying in Chicago.

Well worth seeing if you ever visit the city.

The cost of living.

Inflation.

Took my car for it's annual service and MOT this morning and couldn't help noticing the price of second hand cars, saw one for over £16,000.  It was nothing special, just a little run around which at that price was more than I paid for a four bedroom house in the early 80s, that's inflation for you.

A comparison of the price of living between the 1980's and 2013 from the Sainsbury's website.

“The Toy Band"

A Song of the Great Retreat.

(by Sir Henry Newbolt)

Dedicated to the men of The 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards who were the first British soldiers to come into contact and conflict with the Germans on the morning of the 22nd August 1914 at the village of Casteau in Belgium.


DREARY lay the long road, dreary lay the town,
  Lights out and never a glint o’ moon.
Weary lay the stragglers, half a thousand down,
  Sad sighed the weary big Dragoon:
“Oh ! if I’d a drum here to make them take the road again,
  Oh ! if I’d a fife to wheedle: Come, boys, come !
You that mean to fight it out, wake and take your load again,
  Fall in ! Fall in ! Follow the fife and drum !"

Hey ! but here’s a toy shop, here’s a drum for me,
  Penny whistles too, to play the tune !
Half a thousand dead men soon shall hear and see
  We’re a band !” said the weary big Dragoon.
“Rubadub ! Rubadub ! Wake and take the road again,
  Wheedle-deedle-deedle-dee ! Come, boys, come !
You that mean to fight it out, wake and take your road again,
  Fall in! Fall in! Follow the fife and drum!

Cheerily goes the dark road, cheerily goes the night,
  Cheerily goes the blood to keep the beat.
Half a thousand dead men marching on to fight
  With a little penny drum to lift their feet.
Rubadub ! Rubadub ! Wake and take the road again,
  Tweedle-deedle-deedle-dee ! Come, boys, come !
You that mean to fight it out, wake and take your road again,
  Fall in ! Fall in ! Follow the fife and drum !

As long as there’s an Englishman to ask a tale of me,
  As long as I can tell the tale aright,
We’ll not forget the penny whistle’s Wheedle-deedle-dee !
  And the big Dragoon a-beating down the night,
Rubadub ! Rubadub ! Wake and take the road again,
  Wheedle-deedle-deedle-dee ! Come, boys, come !
You that mean to fight it out, wake and take your load again,
  Fall in ! Fall in ! Follow the fife and drum !

Why it's vital that our children understand what was fought for in WWI

In the year of the centenary of the start of the First World War we did not have to wait until August until the opening shots were fired as Education Secretary Michael Gove took to the media to start the academic debate on the origins, aims and conduct of the war, writes UKIP Leader Nigel Farage.

Mr Gove is essentially right in his analysis of how the previous decades have sought to paint WW1 as the brave Tommy being ordered to his slaughter by an out of touch elite. The left have indeed pushed this view and with Blackadder being used in some areas as a study tool; the foolish officers back at the Chateau, hiding from the front line and resplendent in their incompetence. However Blackadder is a satire not a documentary and that representation is certainly not true.

Field Marshall Haig, most amusingly played by Geoffrey Palmer, is viewed as a 'butcher'. It is true that he was a hard-headed 'Westerner' who believed that only on the Western Front, ghastly though it was, could the war be won. For this he needed men and machines and he had countless battles with Prime Minister Lloyd George to get the next draft of 18 year olds to the front.

It may be fashionable to knock Haig but from the 9th August 1914 to the 11th November 1918 he led what is arguably the most successful feat of arms in the history of the British Army. It was the Allies who won the Second World War: it was Britain who defeated the Germans in 1918.

During the war 47 British divisional commanders were killed compared to two in the Second World War and as the deaths from recent conflicts show, we are only used to the names of the young officers and soldiers of the PBI (and those in combat support roles) being inscribed onto the memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum. Quite simply, they were not all back at the chateau pretending they'd rather be 'going over the top' than drinking their Chateau Lafite and eating Filets Mignons with Bearnaise sauce.

This is the most ignored part of the debate on the war which I hope we can correct over the next four and a half years. What has been forgotten was that Haig was a highly respected figure by veterans after the war and he in turn showed them great concern. The Poppy Appeal was originally the Earl Haig fund, established in 1921; Haig Homes in 1928 and The Royal British Legion's new headquarters are at Haig House. This is hardly the memorial the British Armed Forces would provide for 'a butcher' and in reality he was a heroic figure for some veterans.

Instead we must look to the post war consensus after 1945 to understand the revisionist view which we are still seeing today and which Mr Gove attributes to the left. But it was the Tory politician Alan Clark MP who wrote one of the defining books of the revisionist era, 'The Donkeys' . The title drew on the propaganda from the German Army at the time that British Army were 'Lions led by Donkeys', an adaptation of an old Arabic saying and a phrase which again cropped up during the Crimean War.

Was it all pointless slaughter? Were the British especially bad? Was Haig a harsh man?

Compared to the French, probably not, who showed little innovation and made repeated and costly mistakes which resulted in the mass mutinies in April 1917 after the Nivelle Champagne offensive. To quell disorder it has been alleged that they literally decimated battalions whilst Haig commuted nearly 2000 death penalties. With hindsight it is easy to criticise the military tactics on the first day of the Somme and it is fair to be critical of Haig for pursuing the Passchendaele offensive longer than he should which showed a slightly obsessive zeal.

But he led an army that were innovators in warfare with tanks, creeping barrage and, from August of 1918, the beginning of the tactics later known as Blitzkrieg and employed to astonishing effect by Hitler until 1941.

He also oversaw the massive underground mining operations leading to the spectacular success on the Messines Ridge in the summer of 1917.

I have visited the Western Front at least 100 times and in no way do I want to glorify the conflict which saw huge suffering and loss of life. But I do want British children to learn and understand what we and others fought for in this war.

The reasons for the First World War is often contested and certainly not simple. But we cannot deny the German Empire building and militarisation as a key reason for Britain and her Treaty allies taking up arms. We were actually rather better at this than people give us credit for and this view of failure should be aimed not at the military but at the politicians who negotiated the Treaty of Versailles which left the Germans – who finished the war in enemy territory – feeling as though the rest of the world was against them, creating an inward looking view and allowing disasters such as the Ruhr occupation to happen.

I love Dos

I can't help myself but I miss the days of Basic programming and Dos commands.  So just for old times sake and a good place to keep a link to those commands, some of which may even come into use today, I provide a link below.  If you get a chance get into it, you may find you enjoy being in command.

List of MsDos Commands

And in the beginning . . .

This is my first post and as such does not say much apart from welcome and a useful link to setting up a Full HD Satellite Receiver of the type I use.

Setting up the IceCrypt S3550HDCCI

Receiver is a Full HDTV Receiver which features Linux Embedded, Internet Radio enabled, Free TV STB Client for IP-Hybrid Solution, Internet TV Online Broadcast Streaming, Full HD 1080p, Timeshift, Wi-Fi, MKV file format Supported, Web Browsing, YouTube, NTFS format supported, EZ-upgrade, DVB-T External via USB2, Ethernet, Weather Cast, 3G External via 3G USB Modem.