Firstly, lets have a quick look at Ken Livingstones comments. The Labour Party was 100% correct to suspend him for making such awful comments. Hitler didn't "go mad". He was an evil, dangerous bigot from day 1. You simply can't excuse anti semitism or seek to justify it.
That said, lets just remember one thing. The Nazis were disgusting. Who were their first victims? Who were they murdering when Livingstone thought Hitler was sane? The answer is the disabled. Sadly there is no one getting sacked for attacks on the the disabled. This blog uncovered a terrible scandal where Barnet Council have cancelled disabled peoples freedom passes without telling them, meaning they've been kicked off buses and tubes and publicly humiliated. My fellow blogger Mrs Angry did some digging. What she found is even worse. The deputy leader of Barnet Council, Dan Thomas is seeking election to the GLA. What has he done to sort this out? Nothing, despite many opportunities. It seems that we haven't learned the lesson of history and the disabled are still the first target. The Nazi's had numerous groups they attacked. Sadly some are still considered fair game for discrimination and public humiliation.
Friday, 29 April 2016
Thursday, 28 April 2016
Come down and see The False Dots live at The Midland Hotel tomorrow (Friday 29th April)
The False Dots are playing at the Midland Hotel in Hendon tomorrow night (Friday 29th April). Pease come down and say hi. Admission is free and there is also great music from Tell The Others. This is a taste of what we sound like. A song from our forthcoming album "Songs of love and war"
As certain rather discredited Barnet Ex Politician has been bringing disgrace to the Borough with obscenely ignorant comments about Hillsborough, I will be giving a world debut to my poem 'Hillsborough remembered' at the concert. Please come along to show Barnets solidarity with the people of Liverpool. We will be videoing this event for posterity
All are welcome.
As certain rather discredited Barnet Ex Politician has been bringing disgrace to the Borough with obscenely ignorant comments about Hillsborough, I will be giving a world debut to my poem 'Hillsborough remembered' at the concert. Please come along to show Barnets solidarity with the people of Liverpool. We will be videoing this event for posterity
All are welcome.
Tuesday, 26 April 2016
The ghost of Christmas past returns to haunt the Tories as Brian Coleman rises from the dead
Today is a dark day for the London Conservatives. No one in Barnet is too surprised when the gobby ar$e, also known as former Tory Mayor of Barnet and GLA member Brian Coleman, chooses to be obnoxious in a way designed to upset as many people as possible. He takes great delight in taunting me because I have prostate cancer (not that I really give a flying f**K as it isnt life threatening and has been treated). He's tweeted disrespectful messages when Peaches Geldolf, Ronnie Corbett, David Bowie and Prince died (to name but a few). Today he was at it again. In response to the verdict in the Hillsborough inquest he tweeted the following
Clearly the rather badly educated Brian Coleman doesn't realise that the verdict of unlawful killing categorically proves that this wasn't an accident. Accidents are unavoidable. The jury found that there were mutiple failures which caused this terrible tragedy. It was entirely avoidable.
Whilst any sane and caring person would clearly be offended by Mr Colemans guff, there is a far more serious matter to consider. Brian Coleman was appointed by Boris to be the chair of the London Fire and Emergency Planning authority (a post with a huge salary). Coleman only lost the post when the electorate of Barnet and Camden sacked him in the 2012 GLA election. Brian Coleman was a central part of the Conservative party machine. (After losing the GLA election, Coleman disgraced himself further and was charged with assaulting Helen Michael in the street. He spent six months lying to the police about it, before he was exposed as a liar by CCTV footage in open court. The local Conservatives refused to suspend his membership when he was charged. It was only when head office got wind and acted that he was forced out). Brian Coleman was the man chosen by Boris to implement his cost cutting agenda for the services that protect London.
I find Colemans comments even more distateful given the fact that he was in charge of emergency planning in London. It shows just how little consideration the Conservatives have for the population. When Coleman was running Londons emergency planning, his main policy was one of running down the fire brigade, shutting fire stations, getting rid of fire engines and waging war on the staff. It is no surprise therefore that Coleman sees a massive corporate failure of badly managed emergency services in South Yorkshire as an "accident". It is clear that when people die as a result of the cuts Coleman initiated, he will just excuse this failure as a "sad accident".
Brian Coleman has done us a big service just before the election. He has taken the opportunity to remind us what the attitude of Boris Johnson, Zac Goldsmith and the rest of the London Conservatives is to the issue of emergency planning. They cynically excuse avoidable tragedy as unavoidable accidents. Although Coleman wentfrom the role in 2012, Boris has made no attempt to reverse his disasterous cuts. Zac Goldsmith has never said that he would reverse the cuts. In fact the Tories have sought more cuts from the emergency services budgets.
In Barnet & Camden Dan Thomas is currently trying to pick up the £50K a year job as local GLA rep for the Tories. He is a man with close ties to Brian Coleman. They both sat in the Barnet Council cabinet together (until Tory HQ forced them to suspend Coleman). Despite Brian Coleman lying to the Police for six months and only changing his plea to guilty in court, when the evidence was compelling, Dan Thomas has never apologised to cafe Helen Michael, who Coleman attacked for the support he and his Tory colleagues gave Coleman.
Thomas is a close confidant of Coleman and the two often swap warm, self congratulatory tweets. Here is one recent example.
Dan Thomas knows exactly what Coleman is like. He was in the Cabinet of Barnet Council for years with Coleman, as Coleman lost charge after charge for bring the Council into disrepute. He clearly wishes to be publicly associated with this insensitive, convicted criminal. Of course the people of Barnet and Camden are free to vote for Mr Thomas if they want, but I'd rather hope that most would hold their nose and give the flag bearer for Coleman politics a wide berth.
The London Conservatives have a record of running down emergency services. They make ever more wild accusations about Sadiq Khan and are doing their best to smear him with charges that he poses a threat to London. You don't have to be a genius to realise that by scrapping fire engines and shutting fire stations, there is a real threat. One which Zac Goldsmith and Dan Thomas will simply write off as efficiency. My father was an accident investigation officer for the RAF in 1944-46. He once told me that he'd never seen a plane crash that was "simply an accident". There was always a chain of events and a number of failures which together cause the accident. Serious fires and accidents will happen, but the amount of pain, damage and death they cause is directly affected by the response times of emergency services. That is why London needs people running it who understand that corporate failure in emergency planning results in tragedy. I sincerely thank Brian Coleman for reminding us so vividly that the Tories in London just don't understand this. The inquest wasn't a farce. It was necessary to help prevent such failures occurring again. It is beyond comprehension that Boris and the Tories let a man preside over Londons emeregency services who simply dosn't understand this.
@paulwaugh this whole expensive farce and a split jury delivering a pointless verdict .Sadly accidents happen people need to move on
Brian Coleman
Clearly the rather badly educated Brian Coleman doesn't realise that the verdict of unlawful killing categorically proves that this wasn't an accident. Accidents are unavoidable. The jury found that there were mutiple failures which caused this terrible tragedy. It was entirely avoidable.
Whilst any sane and caring person would clearly be offended by Mr Colemans guff, there is a far more serious matter to consider. Brian Coleman was appointed by Boris to be the chair of the London Fire and Emergency Planning authority (a post with a huge salary). Coleman only lost the post when the electorate of Barnet and Camden sacked him in the 2012 GLA election. Brian Coleman was a central part of the Conservative party machine. (After losing the GLA election, Coleman disgraced himself further and was charged with assaulting Helen Michael in the street. He spent six months lying to the police about it, before he was exposed as a liar by CCTV footage in open court. The local Conservatives refused to suspend his membership when he was charged. It was only when head office got wind and acted that he was forced out). Brian Coleman was the man chosen by Boris to implement his cost cutting agenda for the services that protect London.
I find Colemans comments even more distateful given the fact that he was in charge of emergency planning in London. It shows just how little consideration the Conservatives have for the population. When Coleman was running Londons emergency planning, his main policy was one of running down the fire brigade, shutting fire stations, getting rid of fire engines and waging war on the staff. It is no surprise therefore that Coleman sees a massive corporate failure of badly managed emergency services in South Yorkshire as an "accident". It is clear that when people die as a result of the cuts Coleman initiated, he will just excuse this failure as a "sad accident".
Brian Coleman has done us a big service just before the election. He has taken the opportunity to remind us what the attitude of Boris Johnson, Zac Goldsmith and the rest of the London Conservatives is to the issue of emergency planning. They cynically excuse avoidable tragedy as unavoidable accidents. Although Coleman wentfrom the role in 2012, Boris has made no attempt to reverse his disasterous cuts. Zac Goldsmith has never said that he would reverse the cuts. In fact the Tories have sought more cuts from the emergency services budgets.
In Barnet & Camden Dan Thomas is currently trying to pick up the £50K a year job as local GLA rep for the Tories. He is a man with close ties to Brian Coleman. They both sat in the Barnet Council cabinet together (until Tory HQ forced them to suspend Coleman). Despite Brian Coleman lying to the Police for six months and only changing his plea to guilty in court, when the evidence was compelling, Dan Thomas has never apologised to cafe Helen Michael, who Coleman attacked for the support he and his Tory colleagues gave Coleman.
Thomas is a close confidant of Coleman and the two often swap warm, self congratulatory tweets. Here is one recent example.
In reply to Brian Coleman
#Rotary for@BarnetandCamden who explained@BarnetCouncil good progress on estate regen
Dan Thomas for GLA
Dan Thomas knows exactly what Coleman is like. He was in the Cabinet of Barnet Council for years with Coleman, as Coleman lost charge after charge for bring the Council into disrepute. He clearly wishes to be publicly associated with this insensitive, convicted criminal. Of course the people of Barnet and Camden are free to vote for Mr Thomas if they want, but I'd rather hope that most would hold their nose and give the flag bearer for Coleman politics a wide berth.
The London Conservatives have a record of running down emergency services. They make ever more wild accusations about Sadiq Khan and are doing their best to smear him with charges that he poses a threat to London. You don't have to be a genius to realise that by scrapping fire engines and shutting fire stations, there is a real threat. One which Zac Goldsmith and Dan Thomas will simply write off as efficiency. My father was an accident investigation officer for the RAF in 1944-46. He once told me that he'd never seen a plane crash that was "simply an accident". There was always a chain of events and a number of failures which together cause the accident. Serious fires and accidents will happen, but the amount of pain, damage and death they cause is directly affected by the response times of emergency services. That is why London needs people running it who understand that corporate failure in emergency planning results in tragedy. I sincerely thank Brian Coleman for reminding us so vividly that the Tories in London just don't understand this. The inquest wasn't a farce. It was necessary to help prevent such failures occurring again. It is beyond comprehension that Boris and the Tories let a man preside over Londons emeregency services who simply dosn't understand this.
How Barnet Council treats disabled people - Part 2
I am sharing this email with personal details redacted. I am happy to set up a meeting if any of our councillors are genuinely interested in helping. I note that the Mayor still has a limo. I won't comment at this time, beyond saying my disgust is unbounded.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: *********** *******
Sent: 25
April 2016 16:13
To: roger
Subject: Disabled Freedom Passes being cancelled by LBB without warning
To: roger
Subject: Disabled Freedom Passes being cancelled by LBB without warning
Many thanks for responding to my daughters Twit, to obtain your contact email.
I am emailing your in response to a letter you posted on your blog, regarding a disabled young man having his Freedom Travel Pass cancelled by the LBB without any warning.
The very same thing has just happened to my disabled daughter.
This what I sent to The Hendon Times.
Story:
My disabled daughter received a letter informing her that she now does now does not fit the criteria for a Freedom Pass. She has had had it since the age of 10 she is now 19.
The letter stated that she had 30 days to appeal. 10 days since receiving the letter, she boards a bus to come home and is informed that her Freedom Pass has been cancelled. Leaving her to panic and have a meltdown. Thankfully I was able to be contacted to collect her and return her home.
Barnet gave her no notice that the pass had been cancelled and the letter did not state that the pass would be cancelled.
Surely under Safeguarding the vulnerable Barnet Council have failed. Do Barnet not have a duty of care to their vulnerable people. Are they not picking on the ones with the least understanding and ability to fight their corner, all to save money.
How do Barnet Council sleep at night.
So now I have a 19 year old Autistic daughter with mobility issues, unable to go our, until either her Freedom Pass is reactivated or we obtain an Oyster Cards.
Are other boroughs being as nasty, I think not.
The letter that ****** was sent stated that she did not fit the criteria as stated by Transport for London.
I wanted to appeal, I had 30 days from the receipt of the letter to send in a written appeal. If no appeal was sent in then I could re apply for consideration in 6 months.
The letter was dated **/04/16 ten days later my disabled daughter is in Burnt Oak, she tried to get on a bus to Edgware only to find the pass has been cancelled. Thankfully the bus driver allows her to travel to Edgware
Being Autistic she gets very anxious about now being stranded in Edgware as she does not believe the next bus driver will let her one, so she calls me in a state. Thankfully I was at home.
The letter gave no indication as to when the pass would be cancelled, surely to God you at least wait the 30 days to see if an appeal is lodged.
My daughter attends Oak Lodge Special School and has so since she was 11.
Barnet Council are now going to have a fight on their hands as they are picking on the most vulnerable and the ones with no voice to fight back.
Your daughters might remember ******** from *********.
You will also know my parents**** and ***** ********.
I am cross beyond words as all I seem to be doing is fighting ******** corner but I will continue to do so.
Anyway I just wanted to pint out that the young man who wrote in, is probably one of many.
I truly believe that this is something only Barnet borough are doing
I will stop ranting, thank you for taking the time to read this
Best wishes
Mrs ******** *********
Monday, 25 April 2016
1.8 million blog hits - Celebration post - The all time top ten guitar riffs
To celebrate reaching passing 1,800,000 blog hits, we've compiled a list of the all time top ten guitar riffs. Here's our list. Do you agree?
We followed a couple of simple rules. Only one entry per artist, must be a riff we've heard blasted out on numerous occasions in the studios and must kick ass. We asked our studio staff and customers over the weekend for input and we've gone for a list that goes through the history of rock and roll. These are the riffs that built the world of Rock !
9. Rage Against the Machine - Killing in the name. An absolute killer riff. Fair to say that if you don't like this riff, you don't like rock and roll.
8. Johnny Kidd & The Pirates - Shakin' All Over - One of the Riffs that defined what Rock and Roll was all about. Must be one of the first riffs every guitarist learns.
7. Run DMC/AeroSmith - Walk this Way - Perhaps the only riff that both rockers and rappers get off on ! Sounds great whatever way you do it !
6. T Rex - 20th Century Boy. An absolute killer. This is a riff that just screams out to be played. Makes you want to blast the guitar up to 11, stand in front of the mirror and give real attitude when you hit the strings.
5. Guns and Roses - Sweet Child of mine. A truly great riff. Rock and roll at it's absolute finest.
4. Jimi Hendrix - Purple Haze. The genius of Jimi, One of the riffs that define the sound of rock.
3. Cream - Sunshine of your love. Owners of rehearsal studios everywhere know just how important this riff is.
2. Deep Purple - Smoke on the water. The ultimate brain bug riff. Just mention the name of it and you'll be humming it all day
1. Led Zeppelin - Black Dog. Zeppelin launched a whole generation of guitarists. We could have picked any of a long list of their songs but finally settled on Black Dog.
Counting down...
10 - The Sex Pistols - Pretty Vacant intro. Beautifully simple. Launched a new wave of punk guitarists. Easy enough to play, but a bit harder to get the perfect overdriven crunchy tone.9. Rage Against the Machine - Killing in the name. An absolute killer riff. Fair to say that if you don't like this riff, you don't like rock and roll.
8. Johnny Kidd & The Pirates - Shakin' All Over - One of the Riffs that defined what Rock and Roll was all about. Must be one of the first riffs every guitarist learns.
7. Run DMC/AeroSmith - Walk this Way - Perhaps the only riff that both rockers and rappers get off on ! Sounds great whatever way you do it !
6. T Rex - 20th Century Boy. An absolute killer. This is a riff that just screams out to be played. Makes you want to blast the guitar up to 11, stand in front of the mirror and give real attitude when you hit the strings.
5. Guns and Roses - Sweet Child of mine. A truly great riff. Rock and roll at it's absolute finest.
4. Jimi Hendrix - Purple Haze. The genius of Jimi, One of the riffs that define the sound of rock.
3. Cream - Sunshine of your love. Owners of rehearsal studios everywhere know just how important this riff is.
2. Deep Purple - Smoke on the water. The ultimate brain bug riff. Just mention the name of it and you'll be humming it all day
1. Led Zeppelin - Black Dog. Zeppelin launched a whole generation of guitarists. We could have picked any of a long list of their songs but finally settled on Black Dog.
Do you agree? What is your top ten?
Saturday, 23 April 2016
Review - The man in womans shoes - The Tricycle theatre Kilburn
Last night, we went to see a truly amazing play, The man in womans shoes, at The Tricycle Theatre in Kilburn. For those of you that haven't been to the Tricycle, it is a small venue on Kilburn High road, which seems to unearth an endless string of gems. Last night we saw the latest of these. Sadly last night is the end of the run, so you've missed the chance to see it, but I am sure it will come back. Make the effort if it does!
The writer and star of the show, Mikel Murfi explains what it is about here.
Of course Mikel doesn't really do it justice in his speel. There is so much more to it. Pat Farnon is mute. He can't speak but like many people in his situation, he simply can't get across what he wants to say. We see the world from his perspective. He gives us a constant narration. Like many outsiders, he sees and observes many things the rest of us miss and appreciates many of the things the rest of us take for granted. As someone who has done a fair amount of voluntary work with disabled people, it is makes a point many simply don't realise or get. That is that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Pat Farnon is a skilled shoemaker. He plays an important role in his Irish rural community. Some of those don't give him the respect or the recognition he deserves. But the one that matters does and in the end he gets the girl!
The performance by Mikel Murfi is truly extraordinary. Where he is narrating the thoughts in his head, he is eloquent and engaging. He effortless shifts into being mute and totally unable to get anything but the most basic facts over. When he wants mayo on his ham sandwich, he has to produce to hankies in the colour of County Mayo. These little indications that Pat has far more going on are missed by many. That is something I've observed first hand on many occasions. But it is a truly warm and funny play which works on many levels. It is the best thing I've seen for a long time.
The writer and star of the show, Mikel Murfi explains what it is about here.
Of course Mikel doesn't really do it justice in his speel. There is so much more to it. Pat Farnon is mute. He can't speak but like many people in his situation, he simply can't get across what he wants to say. We see the world from his perspective. He gives us a constant narration. Like many outsiders, he sees and observes many things the rest of us miss and appreciates many of the things the rest of us take for granted. As someone who has done a fair amount of voluntary work with disabled people, it is makes a point many simply don't realise or get. That is that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Pat Farnon is a skilled shoemaker. He plays an important role in his Irish rural community. Some of those don't give him the respect or the recognition he deserves. But the one that matters does and in the end he gets the girl!
The performance by Mikel Murfi is truly extraordinary. Where he is narrating the thoughts in his head, he is eloquent and engaging. He effortless shifts into being mute and totally unable to get anything but the most basic facts over. When he wants mayo on his ham sandwich, he has to produce to hankies in the colour of County Mayo. These little indications that Pat has far more going on are missed by many. That is something I've observed first hand on many occasions. But it is a truly warm and funny play which works on many levels. It is the best thing I've seen for a long time.
Friday, 22 April 2016
Prince RIP
Yesterday I was in the studio doing the admin and checking our twitter account when I noticed Prince was trending. I assumed it was something to do with the Queens birthday. Out of curiosity, I clicked the link and was totally shocked. At first I hoped it was a sick spoof, but a check on the BBC website confirmed the worst.I first came across Prince when a friend started raving about his music. I asked him to describe it. He replied "Hendrix, Little Richard and Michael Jackson rolled into one!". If like me you love Rock and Roll, it is a potent mix. We saw the millenium in to his epic 1999 track as I am sure millions did.
Prince was a proper rock and roller. He lived his life to excess and he oved his life. The thing I admired most about him was that he wasn't afraid to take chances and never played it safe. He always kept an aura of untouchability and was unique. I am sure right now he's up on that cloud, guitar plugged in. I can amost hear him jamming with Jimi Hendrix in my head right now. I always thought it was a shame Hendrix never lived to cover Purple Rain. Now that would be something!
RIP Prince, we'll not see your like again.
The Friday Joke - 22/4/2016 - Lawyers
NASA was interviewing professionals they were planning on sending to Mars. The touchy part was that only one guy could go and it would be a one way trip, the guy would never return to Earth.
The interviewer asked the first applicant, an engineer, how much he wanted to be paid for going.
"One million dollars," the engineer answered. "And I want to donate it all to my alma mater -- Rice University."
The next applicant was a doctor, and the interviewer asked him the same question.
"Two millions dollars," the doctor said. "I want to give a million to my family and leave the other million for the advancement of medical research."
The last applicant was a lawyer. When asked how much money he wanted, he whispered in the interviewer's ear, "Three million dollars."
"Why so much more than the others?" the interviewer asked.
The lawyer replied, "You give me three million, I'll give you one million, I'll keep a million, and we'll send the engineer."