Sunday, 15 December 2024

The Sunday Ishmael: 15/12/2024

 


Ruritania Special: The Gi(f)t that keeps on Giving Taking

Happy days long gone when I lay content in the warmth of my  brother's regard, and my mother's money; O that those days would swift return - but see me now, a beggar on the world's stage, a motley fool 
the butt of every pauper's contempt, e'en the street dog lifts his leg against me, 
each news reader shafts me with her rapier wit
and even now they chatter her weakness through the two bazaars
who was so strong to love me, and I, listening, found not the whispers of my girl, wanton as water, 
honeyed with eagerness
but yet endured cold rejection though she was the citron breasted beloved of I, the Prince of the Cities of the Sea, crinkling the fat about my eyes, as I led her to my grim bed.
Eheu, me miseram, my friend is dead
and my honour with him, for I, I am an honourable man and my heart that cannot sweat is in the coffin there with Jeffrey. O judgment! thou art fled to brutish beasts, and all for lack of money, that which is slave to thousands - twas mine, tis his, tis trash and now my good name filched which makes me poor indeed. I loved not wisely but too well and sold my country for a handful of silver and a smile -

One may smile, and smile, and be a villain; at least I'm sure it may be so in London.

I shall be dumped where the weed decays, and the rest is rust and stardust.

Harro! Mr Sam, here again, owner of the Fuk Yoo Andy lestaulant in Loyal Woking. Plince Andy come in other day with shifty-rooking broke, say he called H6, I say no he not, lecognise him from 007 movies, but he carr me sirry sritty eye and terr me piss off. Then he start talking with shifty-rooking broke, and say you wirring to herrp for cash in hand, no tlouber for tax man, get infruence with Pitch@Parrace, wink nudge. What tlaitor! What tleachelous cunt!
Mr Wu said...That frat frucker Plinny Andy use and abuse my lestaurlant The Ligid Cock in Loyal Woking for two lears before I kick his frat arse down the stairs two leeks ago.
He came in with blig-haired drag queen called Salah and the frucking pigs ate their way fru the frucking card.
He always take up offer of eat all you can for fiver. We give frat frucker small plates but he sly and go back for seconds. He humililate his drag queen palamour who seem very nice, bur ask me for tip. I say you give me tip. She say, no, I gerr you infruence with ex-husband so you give me tip. Big tip.
I sling out Plinny and Gingey because he sweh all over my top teenage waitless and offer me outside when I plesent bill.
I need speak to you urgently Mr Sam. We need stop  greedy, frat frucker in his tlacks.

Stanislav, Chief of Secret Interrigence Intelligence Service, known as C, because he signs letters with a "C" in gleen green ink because founder Captain Sir Mansfield Smith-Cumming used to do it 120 years ago - well, it is Britain after all (side bar - did they really use to call babies Mansfield for fuck's sake - whose a pretty Mansfield then?) - says: 
"Hello Mr Sam and Mr Wu and Mr H6, fuck off back to Shanghai all of you, slope eyed, dog-eating, yellow racist bastards. Fucking bad enough live here with fucking Jock. Never mind with cheeky bastard chink with too many fucking teeth. Anyway stanislav never sit for dinner down with lard-eating, vomiting, shrunken-cock, speech-deficient, meatpie monster but instead give him quick rubdown with housebrick if opportunity ever present. Fat cunt."
.........................................

Interesting Spy factoid: when the newly created Secret Service Bureau discovered that semen made a good invisible ink, Captain Sir Mansfield Smith-Cumming's  agents adopted the motto "Every man his own stylo". However, the use of semen as invisible ink ceased because of the smell it produced for the eventual receiver. It also raised questions over the masturbatory habits of the agents.

Another interesting Spy factoid, which calls into question the sanity and maturity level of good old Captain Sir Mansfield: In 1914, he was involved in a serious road accident in France in which his son was killed and he invented the entirely fictitious narrative that to escape the car wreck he had to amputate his own leg using a pen knife. 
Hospital records have shown, however, that while both his legs were broken, his left foot was not amputated until the day after the accident. Captain Sir then amused himself in meetings by suddenly stabbing his artificial leg with a knife, letter opener or fountain pen. Ah, yes, they don't make them like that anymore.

There are four splendid anthologies of the writings of mr ishmael and stanislav, the young Polish Plumber, compiled by his friend, mr verge, the house filthster.  You can buy the Quartet from Amazon or Lulu. Here's how:
Honest Not Invent, Vent Stack, Ishmael’s Blues, and the latest, Flush Test (with a nice picture of the late, much lamented, Mr Harris of Lanarkshire taking a piss on a totem pole) are available from Lulu and Amazon. If you buy from Amazon, it would be nice if you could give a review on their website.
IIshmaelites wishing to buy a copy from lulu should follow these steps 
please register an account first, at lulu.com. This is advisable because otherwise paypal seems to think it's ok to charge in dollars, and they then apply their own conversion rate, which might put the price up slightly for a UK buyer. Once the new account is set up, follow one of the links below (to either paperback or hardback) or type "Ishmael’s Blues" into the Lulu Bookstore search box. Click on the “show explicit content” tab, give the age verification box a date of birth such as 1 January 1960, and proceed.
Link for Hardcover : https://tinyurl.com/je7nddfr
Link for Paperback : https://tinyurl.com/3jurrzux
https://www.lulu.com/shop/ishmael-smith/flush-test/paperback/product-9yjvn7.html?q=Flush+Test&page=1&pageSize=4

At checkout, try WELCOME15 in the coupon box, which (for the moment) takes 15% off the price before postage. If this code has expired by the time you reach this point, try a google search for "Lulu.com voucher code" and see what comes up.
With the 15% voucher, PB (including delivery to a UK address) should be £16.84; HB £27.04.
Q said he could supply an exploding sweat band, Your Majesty


Sunday, 8 December 2024

The Sunday Ishmael: 8/12/2024

As they say, it's complicated. Are we supposed to be jubilating regarding recent events in Damascus, or be a bit concerned that the rebels - mainly Sunni Moslems, now in control of Syria may form another Terrorist state, attack the West and repress women? Whatever his faults, and we are now assured there are many more than you might expect the average English-trained ophthalmologist to exhibit, women were granted more freedoms under the Assad regime than in some other Muslim countries, including fighting in the Syrian military. Mrs. Assad's influence, perhaps. Where are Mr and Mrs Assad now? Maybe they've gone home to London. At least he's got his profession to fall back on. "Yes, Madam, these frames suit the shape of your face very nicely. Would you like varifocals?" And Mrs Assad could go back to investment banking.
Here's a little map of Syria, showing it in relation to Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon and, most importantly, the Med. That's why Putin wanted to stay friends with Assad and previously supported him against the  rebels. That bit of Mediterranean coastline. But he's been a bit busy with his Ukrainian adventure, and the Syrian rebels seized the moment.
The BBC, and, doubtless, other media, have been falling over themselves to get correspondents out there. Jeremy Bowen, their go-to Middle East man, and the most respectable of their Welsh presenters, although the competition hasn't been too great - "Good Evening, Huw Welshman yere", had to hitch-hike across from Turkey sharpish to get himself and camera crew onto the streets of Damascus to find something to film. There was footage of some angry young men hitting a lump of metal in the street and people milling about, so it was vital that Bowen was there to bring it live into our sitting rooms. Commenting on the Syrian situation and who we should be cheering on, Bowen said It's complicated. It's World War Three in miniature here, what with the U.S., the U.K., Israel, Russia, and Iran all with their fingers in the pie. 
I thought that this is a good opportunity to bring a few useful Arabic phrases to your attention, just in case they come in  handy in the new world order. You may have to be a little careful about when you unleash them.
Shem et Duat:    Go to hell

Kuss mm-ak ya'arku shar mouteh:  Fuck you, mother fucker

Kiss oumm yally bazarak:  Fuck who gave birth to you

Aneek oummak: Fuck your mother

Airy be oummak: My dick in your mother

Airy bi mafrat bazazik: My dick between your tits (titty fuck)

Airi fee kus imak eil sharmoota:  My dick in your mom's pussy, you son of a bitch

Koss ommak ala air jamal mayyet: Your mother's pussy on a dead camel's dick

Kafekom kalaman bel Arabia ya hi wah naht!  Stop speaking in Arabic, you animals!

Kl zegg:  Eat shit

Ya mnyakah:  You fag

Ya jrar :  You pimp

Ya gawad : You pimp

Ihir: Pussy

Aneekik o aneek ummk o obook o ahlk klhm: I'll fuck you and fuck your mom, dad and your whole family

Mzghabah:  Fag

Bkem al lailah?  How much is one night?

Musi o anti saktah: Shut up and suck (girl)

Mus o ant sakit:  Shut up and suck (man)

Tfoo ala wishak: I spit in your face

Yin'al mayteenak:  Damn your dead ancestors

Yin'al saleebak:  Fuck your cross

Rooh fi siteen alf dahya: Get lost into 60,000 disasters

Kuss Ummak Bisinaan: Your mother's pussy has teeth

By their insults, so shall you know them. Seems like a thoroughly misogynistic and homophobic culture.

               In other War news, it is not just me that has lost patience with Ukraine. Not that I had any in the first place. BBC video footage of the Azov Battalion terrorising and trashing the lives and livelihoods of Russian-speaking Ukrainians in eastern Ukraine was convincing evidence both of an out-of-control rogue fascist militia and a minority population that was in need of protection. Well, it convinced me. Then there were the stories of Ukrainian romance scammers fleecing unlovable British men. Seemed like a gangster state. Then they elected a diminutive comedian to be their President. Mrs. Diminutive Comedian Zelensky learned of her husband's intention to run as President when she watched her husband's New Year special comedy show. Zelensky's commitment to fighting Russia with borrowed Western weaponry - remember Ben Wallace recounting how he told the Dwarf that he was not Amazon - don't give me your weapons shopping list, Mr President - and his happy willingness to be America's pawn in its ridiculous proxy war is wearing thin with his allies and his own citizens. Only the West's pathological distrust of Putin's Russia made supporting Ukraine seem like a good idea.

Zelensky's five-year presidential term of office ended last May, but he continues in post through wartime powers that by-passed Parliament and suspended all independent broadcast media. Corruption is rumoured to be rife, with lucrative government procurement contracts going to ministerial chums (Oops, a bit like the Covid Conservative Government), and medical officials being bribed to issue fake medical certificates to men to escape the draft. Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov was sacked last year amid a scandal of huge overpayments for food and equipment for the army. Zelensky's government has been accused of blocking the release of funds and demanding bribes in connection with the construction of bunkers to protect electricity substations from bombardment.

The war is increasingly unpopular in Ukraine.  
60,435 Ukrainians, including civilians, have been identified by name as having died as of 6 November this year. The exact number of dead is withheld, as a state secret.  There are so few soldiers to fight the war that there is no leave or rotation. Soldiers have been serving at the front for the duration of the war - morale is plummeting. Particularly because it is becoming obvious that a substantial part of Ukraine's eastern citizens have no objection to living under Russian governance - 150,000 internally-displaced refugees have returned to their homes in eastern Ukraine, having faced poverty and  discrimination in Western Ukraine. Because the land borders were closed, the refugees returning to their homes did so via Moscow, without harm.
To avoid being drafted into an increasingly unpopular war, many male Ukrainians have left the country. Others are in hiding, but foolish enough to attend nightclubs and concerts, where they are scooped up by armed press gangs:

Despite Biden and his permission to use ATACMS against Russian territory, Trump's day will soon come - and he has stated his intention to immediately end the war. Withdrawal of American support will force Zelensky to the negotiating table, although his personal interest has to be to keep Ukraine on a war footing - cessation of hostilities will bring elections to the war-sick Ukrainian people and the end of Zelensky's  strange rule. Only 22% of Ukrainians would vote to elect Zelensky for a second term, and 60% believe he should not stand at all, according to recent polls. Maybe he will then be able to ditch the military fatigues and put on a suit.

Bald Headlines.

Aggressive Bald Bastard Makes Arse of himself. After Making Nuisance of himself. 

Middle Class Women of a certain Age furious. 

BBC fucks up again. 

Fake Barrow-Boy Bonhomie Boils his own Goose. 

Former Football Hooligan has Milwall tattoed on his chest. 

Bald Old Git has 5 year old child by Fourth Wife.

 Nasty Old Slap-Head Mockney's lawyers said it is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature. 

Arse-Licking Charity Ambitious about Autism sacks Wallace as Ambassador although he still has an autistic son. 

Ex Barrow-boy's company, West Veg Limited Went Bust in 2013, owing £500,000+. 

Two Restaurants Owned by Judge of Fucking Awful Food Competition went Bust in 2014, owing £150,000.

Polish Yer 'ead, Mister required to "Step Back" after telling sign Language Interpreter to Sign "Sexy Bum" and "Big Boobs" at NEC event.

Stupid Middle-Aged Bloke just a Man of His Time - when Blokes Could Say  Just What They Wanted and Everyone Laughed and Bought Them A Pint. 

How Does the Beeb Manage to Consistently Pay Huge Salaries to Wrong'uns?

There are four splendid anthologies of the writings of mr ishmael and stanislav, the young Polish Plumber, compiled by his friend, mr verge, the house filthster.  You can buy the Quartet from Amazon or Lulu. Here's how:
Honest Not Invent, Vent Stack, Ishmael’s Blues, and the latest, Flush Test (with a nice picture of the late, much lamented, Mr Harris of Lanarkshire taking a piss on a totem pole) are available from Lulu and Amazon. If you buy from Amazon, it would be nice if you could give a review on their website.
IIshmaelites wishing to buy a copy from lulu should follow these steps 
please register an account first, at lulu.com. This is advisable because otherwise paypal seems to think it's ok to charge in dollars, and they then apply their own conversion rate, which might put the price up slightly for a UK buyer. Once the new account is set up, follow one of the links below (to either paperback or hardback) or type "Ishmael’s Blues" into the Lulu Bookstore search box. Click on the “show explicit content” tab, give the age verification box a date of birth such as 1 January 1960, and proceed.
Link for Hardcover : https://tinyurl.com/je7nddfr
Link for Paperback : https://tinyurl.com/3jurrzux
https://www.lulu.com/shop/ishmael-smith/flush-test/paperback/product-9yjvn7.html?q=Flush+Test&page=1&pageSize=4

At checkout, try WELCOME15 in the coupon box, which (for the moment) takes 15% off the price before postage. If this code has expired by the time you reach this point, try a google search for "Lulu.com voucher code" and see what comes up.
With the 15% voucher, PB (including delivery to a UK address) should be £16.84; HB £27.04.


Sunday, 1 December 2024

The Sunday Ishmael: 01/12/2024

Looking, as usual, like a depressed but stoical tortoise, Pat McFadden attempted to interpret the sacking of Louise Haigh this morning on the Sunday Show without Laura Nose but with Victoria Derbyshire. This was evidently a most serious issue for the Government in that Pat was sent into the front line to deny everything, stoutly declare Nothing to See Here and move along. 
McFadden, who glories in the middle name of Bosco, was born in 1965 but has really not aged well.
A Glasgae lad, he represents Wolverhampton South East, but hasn't lost that trick they Scottish bastards have of Disapproval. He's worked for Blair and Brown and is now Starmer's man - he's Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, the highest ranking minister in the Cabinet Office, second only to the Prime Minister. He attempted to Disapprove Victoria Derbyshire into shutting up about red-headed Haigh. 
Although, to be dead honest, he didn't mention the hair. You'd think, though, that if he was going to Disapprove anything, it would be the hair. But maybe it isn't common in Glasgow and south Wolverhampton. But it is. Common, that is.
Anyway, I've been puzzled by this news story since Starmer sacked the girl on the 28th November. And then McFadden being used to whitewash the issue? Well, you had to wonder. The story seemed to be that Haigh had been out on the lash one night in 2014, when she was the victim of a mugging. She gave the police a list of items stolen from her, one of which was her work phone. She subsequently found the phone in a drawer at home and told the police she'd made a mistake. Whereupon she was prosecuted and received a Conditional Discharge for the offence of Fraud by False Representation. Bit harsh, you'd think, being prosecuted for an honest mistake whilst pissed. Haigh herself minimised the gravity of the charge by telling the world that the Magistrates imposed the lightest of all sentences. Well, actually, no. The least sentence is an Absolute Discharge. A Conditional Discharge requires the offender not to commit any more offences for a specified period of time, and if you do, the Court can deal with the offence for which the Conditional Discharge was imposed as well as the new offence. Haigh says she told Sir Keir all about her criminal past in 2020, prior to her being appointed to the Shadow Cabinet. And him being a former Director of the CPS and a lawyer, that's alright, then. It's just those nasty Tories making a fuss about nothing. Getting their own back for the times that Haigh denounced them and called for their resignation. She thought Theresa May should resign in 2017 for running a "shocking campaign" in the general election. The following year she had a go at Amber Rudd for "deliberately misleading parliament over targets for removing illegal immigrants, saying " she has to go. If your only excuse is gross incompetence than you cannot remain in post." In March 2022 she directed her rage at dear old Boris (I've ordered his book on Audible, but he hasn't finished recording it yet - can't wait to have Boris in my ear), "the man who repeatedly flouted (the Covid rules) ...should resign". Ms Haigh also accused Boris of "deceiving the police" in the House of Commons in 2019, suggesting he had "seriously breached" public trust by "politicising serving officers".
Except there's a little murk hangs over the circumstances of that 2014 conviction. Minimal research by me revealed that Haigh's employers, Aviva, who had issued that work phone supposedly stolen by the muggers that night in 2014 were formally investigating Haigh after establishing through their tech wizardry  that the supposedly stolen phone was being used to call Haigh's existing contacts, including her mum. The police investigation confirmed that the same numbers had been called by the phone before and after the supposed theft. Sky News reported that two sources alleged that Haigh wanted a more modern work phone, like the ones being given to her colleagues, and The Guardian reported that Aviva's investigation was looking into whether Haigh had deliberately mislaid phones in order to get upgrades. Haigh resigned from Aviva.
Starmer should have taken one look at that hair and realised she was just not Cabinet material. Then there were the rude things she said about P&O Ferries.. 
After returning to the back benches, Haigh then voted for the Assisted Dying Bill the next day.
I wasn't going to talk about the vote, but I found myself in agreement with a telling point made by Diane Abbott. Pointing out that assisted dying would be fully funded within the NHS, whereas palliative care isn't, the conclusion could be reached that Government will avoid the whole bitter wrangling about funding a National Care Service  by getting rid of all those inconvenient and expensive elderly and disabled folk.
 MPs sobbing in the House over sad narratives of "undignified" deaths (by which they mean, I think, incontinence of faeces and urine) are not to be trusted with legislation of this importance. Hard cases make bad law. Once the principle is established that the government can legally kill you, not for wrong doing, but simply for being human and facing death - what's next? Empty the prisons of all those lifers by reinstating the death penalty? 

I never had the benefit of a scientific education. I'm an arts and humanities girl. You know, the soft subjects. But I've been trying to remedy my lacunae by doing a bit of reading. I'm handicapped by having little math and less quantum physics, I can't read an equation and I resent people who are paid to hypothesize about unknowables.  "Even now, I mind the coming and talking of wise men from towers where they had thought away their youth."
I don't think I have the right sort of brain for all this made-up stuff. Here's mr ishmael sharing some thoughts on it:

 But Why Is There Anything?
A couple of years back, I tried to review a  PBC Horizon show, the debunking, at the hands of some of its creators, of the so-called Big Bang Theory, that piece of nonsense which insists that Every Thing came, in an immeasurably tiny instant, from No Thing. You know how it goes, some smug bug-eyed little boffin smirks that, asking What was Before is the wrong question, Before is a temporal concept and obviously there wasn't any Time until the Big Bang created it, along with Space and Matter, so there was no Before. So fuck off and leave this to crazy bastards, like me, with our many-noughted equations; did you know, for instance, that the transition from Sweet Fuck All to the existence of the Universe lasted 0.00000000000000000000000000000000001 of a second?

The thing is, advancing human theorising about time, space and the expanding universe doesn't give a brown baby a drink of clean water. It is summed up beautifully by Gil Scott-Heron in his poem: "Whitey's on the Moon."

There are four splendid anthologies of the writings of mr ishmael and stanislav, the young Polish Plumber, compiled by his friend, mr verge, the house filthster.  You can buy the Quartet from Amazon or Lulu. Here's how:
Honest Not Invent, Vent Stack, Ishmael’s Blues, and the latest, Flush Test (with a nice picture of the late, much lamented, Mr Harris of Lanarkshire taking a piss on a totem pole) are available from Lulu and Amazon. If you buy from Amazon, it would be nice if you could give a review on their website.
IIshmaelites wishing to buy a copy from lulu should follow these steps 
please register an account first, at lulu.com. This is advisable because otherwise paypal seems to think it's ok to charge in dollars, and they then apply their own conversion rate, which might put the price up slightly for a UK buyer. Once the new account is set up, follow one of the links below (to either paperback or hardback) or type "Ishmael’s Blues" into the Lulu Bookstore search box. Click on the “show explicit content” tab, give the age verification box a date of birth such as 1 January 1960, and proceed.
Link for Hardcover : https://tinyurl.com/je7nddfr
Link for Paperback : https://tinyurl.com/3jurrzux
https://www.lulu.com/shop/ishmael-smith/flush-test/paperback/product-9yjvn7.html?q=Flush+Test&page=1&pageSize=4

At checkout, try WELCOME15 in the coupon box, which (for the moment) takes 15% off the price before postage. If this code has expired by the time you reach this point, try a google search for "Lulu.com voucher code" and see what comes up.
With the 15% voucher, PB (including delivery to a UK address) should be £16.84; HB £27.04.



Sunday, 24 November 2024

The Sunday Ishmael: 24/11/2024

 Young People all nutters is - official

Always suspected it, what with sticking knives in each other and being all surprise when they don't get up again, going boo-hoo at Yooni when told to read 3 books a week - each week, and stoning speakers saying men have penisuses and women have special lady  parts. Now official. Lady minister Liz Kendall, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, said so. On telly. Today. So must be true. 

But Liz is just a secetry, so surprise she is on telly talking to Laura Nosa, just like bloke politician. Tell she is secetry, as legs all cross up for hold notebook for writing down what Bloke says. She must work for Bloke in charge of handing out dole to idle fucking bastards who won't go to work. And she is cross about idle fucking bastards, but in a lady-like, Labour Party way.  So has threatened to Help them. 
"They is 870,000 people aged between 17 and 24 not in work, school or training. That is Not Good. It costs my Bloke money to pay the idle fucking bastards to stay in house and eat burgers and fries brought to them by old deliveroo drivers. And the cheeky fucking bastards say they has mental health. 240,700 of them says they has anxiety, depression or autism. Old buggers not working is all wore out - they has physical health. Not bothered about them - all used up. My Bloke will Help cheeky fucking young bastards to cheer up and get back to work, by phasing out their dole.

Phasers on no burgers and fries. 

They'll like it at work. Better be doing crap job wipe bottoms of wore-out old buggers and not County Lines and dole money.
I explain, using Higher Mathematics. You has not got two oranges. Neither has you. 

Therefore I add up your no oranges and I has 4 oranges.


 -2 + -2 = +4 
add two negative numbers and what do you get? A positive number. Simple. Good for Economy."

Even now
I mind the coming and talking of wise men from towers
Where they had thought away their youth. And I, listening,
Found not the salt of the whispers of my girl,
Murmur of confused colours, as we lay near sleep;
Little wise words and little witty words
Wanton as water, honeyed with eagerness.
 
translated by E.Powys Mathers from from Black Marigolds, 11th century 

So - what else is news this week? If you've got a great-granny, inconveniently wasting your inheritance on care home fees, don't bother writing to your MP, urging him (or even her - equal opportunities MPs nowadays) to vote for the Assisted Dying Bill - they've got a free vote, means they can vote according to their conscience, always supposing your average whoreson MP has a conscience.
There's a blind chap called Sean Dilley who has been assisted for 25 years to get around by a succession of gorgeous dog-blokes. Sean is a journalist and has been social-media-ing about taxi-drivers, restaurateurs and Tesco's who have denied him access to their taxis, caffs and shops because they don't like dogs, even though it is a breach of the Equality Act 2010 to discriminate against a disabled person because they have a guide dog with them when accessing businesses or services.
This is Shawn, Sean's assistance dog, dressed in his working clothes. You can see he's a chap who takes his responsibilities seriously. He's not going to have a poo in a taxi, eat the sausages in Tesco or upskirt lady diners in the caff. Nevertheless, his dad, Sean, has been refused service when Shawn is with him. Sean, when trying to gain access to such services says he has been challenged to justify why he would want equal treatment, and been threatened with violence and death. When he has written about this illegal discrimination on social media, commentators have threatened to punch him and kill Shawn. He was told to "be careful". One bright spark said his mother should be raped. Could well be that these social media commentators are all liberals, especially in the light of the threats to kill the dog. The police seem uninterested in enforcing the law or in policing this aspect of incitement to violence. 
Unlike their activity in relation to a complaint they received about a post written by journalist Allison Pearson. The complaint was reported to the Metropolitan Police as a potential breach of the Malicious Communications Act. It was then passed to Sussex Police, which marked it as a possible non-crime hate incident. Sussex Police passed it to Essex, where Allison Pearson lives. Essex made two assessments of the complaint before opening an investigation under Section 17 of the Public Order Act 1986, relating to material allegedly "likely or intended to cause racial hatred". Then they sent two police officers round to Ms Pearson's house on a Sunday morning to tell her she was under investigation in relation to her tweeting, but wouldn't tell her which tweets. 
 "No, we are not telling you." 
They wouldn't tell her who the complainant was, either.
 "No, we are not telling you."
 There was quite the fuss, on account of accused persons having the right, in British law, to know what they are accused of and who their accuser is. Well, that was the law, but it would expose the maliciously-motivated to having to prove their accusations in a court of law, so it has been changed to protect the righteously anti-racist. Bit like a totalitarian regime. Anyway,  because of the fuss, the Police have backed right down, to the probable fury of the original complainant. 
Sean Dilley has clearly been complaining about the wrong sort of discrimination and threats against him, his mum and his dog. Britain is really not keen on disabled people. Obviously inconvenient, taking up the best parking spaces, messing the place up with dogs, just embarrassing, really. As for wheelchairs - you try accompanying a wheelchair user around the place and you'll soon find out that Britain does not readily accommodate wheeled humans.
In Belgium, which has had legislation allowing assisted dying since the beginning of this century, twin brothers Marc and Eddy Verbessem were 45 year old cobblers who were deaf and going blind. They died in January 2013 at the hands of their doctor, David Dufour, who believed that he was doing them a kindness as they were determined to die. Belgium also allows doctors to end the lives of terminally ill children, those with dementia and the mentally ill. There is a requirement in Belgian legislation that the applicant for death must experience constant and unbearable suffering that cannot be alleviated and that is caused by a serious and incurable medical condition. That, of course, is a matter of interpretation, of resources available to assist the disabled, the mentally or physically ill, the social stigma that may attach to certain conditions and to the old inconveniently tying up the resources that the next generation would like to prematurely get their hands on.
Westminster may motor ahead with the Assisted Dying Bill next week.  You know how mr ishmael always said that the person most likely to kill you is your doctor? Until now, that was always through malfeasance, neglect, incompetence or unexpected and unwanted drug effects. If the Bill gets onto the Statute book, then doctors have permission to legally kill you. No doubt you could cite to me many, many instances of people dying horrid deaths in undesirable circumstances. And all I could say in response is "hard cases make bad law". Once the principle of assisted dying is allowed in, then Britain may find itself with Canadian or Belgian outcomes. Given the phenomenal numbers of Britons unable to work through ill-health - well, its one solution to all those NEWT young people with "mental 'elf, innit."

Given Biden's successful attempts via ATACMS to subvert any future peace process that Trump intends brokering, by escalating the conflict between Ukraine and Russia - and where Biden leads, Britain trots readily along; our young men need to double down on their consumption of burgers and fries. In both Ukraine and Russia the war-averse young simply ran away, but there's an exciting new strategy in South Korea for keeping away from the guns and mines. In South Korea, all able-bodied men over the age of 18 are conscripted into the military. One chap, who ate his way into the non-able-bodied category, began binge-eating before his physical assessment for the draft. He increased his weight to 16 stone - a fine figure of a man in the West, but morbidly obese on a petite South Korean frame. He was prosecuted for trying to avoid military service by gaining weight and was given a one-year suspended sentence. He can serve in a non-combat role in a government agency. His mate, who devised the weight-gaining diet, received a six-month suspended sentence. 
I do hope our young men remember this tip, should they not wish to serve the penalty for being a conscientious objector, or be averse to being blown up, should the time come. Mind you, no doubt our legislature would hurry into law some anti-obesity legislation, sentencing folk to Ozempic, and issue arrest warrants for deliveroo drivers.
Here we are, General Sir Bufton-Tufton Go-Lightly Carter. 
Medalled up to fuck, with a handy gold noose slung around his shoulder. No, Officer, not an incitement to violence, just satire, sarcasm and a dollop of snark. Emblematic of the Donkey Class. 
I would like to share with you a poem by  Du Fu (712–770),  a Chinese poet and politician during the Tang dynasty. It seems relevant to our troubled times. And you could say - twas ever thus.

Ballad of the Army Carts
 
Wagons rattling and banging,
horses neighing and snorting,
conscripts marching, each with bow and arrows at his hip,
fathers and mothers, wives and children, running to see them off--
so much dust kicked up you can't see Xian-yang Bridge!
And the families pulling at their clothes, stamping feet in anger,
blocking the way and weeping--
ah, the sound of their wailing rises straight up to assault heaven.
And a passerby asks, "What's going on?"
The soldier says simply, "This happens all the time.
From age fifteen some are sent to guard the north,
and even at forty some work the army farms in the west.
When they leave home, the village headman has to wrap their turbans for them;
when they come back, white-haired, they're still guarding the frontier.
The frontier posts run with blood enough to fill an ocean,
and the war-loving Emperor's dreams of conquest have still not ended.
Hasn't he heard that in Han, east of the mountains,
there are two hundred prefectures, thousands and thousands of villages,
growing nothing but thorns?
And even where there is a sturdy wife to handle hoe and plough,
the poor crops grow raggedly in haphazard fields.
It's even worse for the men of Qin; they're such good fighters
they're driven from battle to battle like dogs or chickens.
Even though you were kind enough to ask, good sir,
perhaps I shouldn't express such resentment.
But take this winter, for instance,
they still haven't demobilized the troops of Guanxi,
and the tax collectors are pressing everyone for land-fees--
land-fees!--from where is that money supposed to come?
Truly, it is an evil thing to bear a son these days,
it is much better to have daughters;
at least you can marry a daughter to the neighbour,
but a son is born only to die, his body lost in the wild grass.
Has my lord seen the shores of the Kokonor?
The white bones lie there in drifts, uncollected.
New ghosts complain and old ghosts weep,
under the lowering sky their voices cry out in the rain."

There are four splendid anthologies of the writings of mr ishmael and stanislav, the young Polish Plumber, compiled by his friend, mr verge, the house filthster. There's proper stanislav, unlike my poor pastiche in today's first couple of paragraphs.  You can buy the Quartet from Amazon or Lulu. Here's how:
Honest Not Invent, Vent Stack, Ishmael’s Blues, and the latest, Flush Test (with a nice picture of the late, much lamented, Mr Harris of Lanarkshire taking a piss on a totem pole) are available from Lulu and Amazon. If you buy from Amazon, it would be nice if you could give a review on their website.
IIshmaelites wishing to buy a copy from lulu should follow these steps 
please register an account first, at lulu.com. This is advisable because otherwise paypal seems to think it's ok to charge in dollars, and they then apply their own conversion rate, which might put the price up slightly for a UK buyer. Once the new account is set up, follow one of the links below (to either paperback or hardback) or type "Ishmael’s Blues" into the Lulu Bookstore search box. Click on the “show explicit content” tab, give the age verification box a date of birth such as 1 January 1960, and proceed.
Link for Hardcover : https://tinyurl.com/je7nddfr
Link for Paperback : https://tinyurl.com/3jurrzux
https://www.lulu.com/shop/ishmael-smith/flush-test/paperback/product-9yjvn7.html?q=Flush+Test&page=1&pageSize=4

At checkout, try WELCOME15 in the coupon box, which (for the moment) takes 15% off the price before postage. If this code has expired by the time you reach this point, try a google search for "Lulu.com voucher code" and see what comes up.
With the 15% voucher, PB (including delivery to a UK address) should be £16.84; HB £27.04.
ATACMS - Damn American baby-talk - Attack'ems, for fuck's sake.







Thursday, 21 November 2024

Obituary: Before there was Rayner, there was Prezza......

 


A RETIRED BARMAN REVIEWS THE NEWS
(as imagined by stanislav – obvs not verbotum, innit)
 
 Allo viewers. Me, ere. Usedta be second prime minister, minister for communities and transport and pies and maybe that’s why they’re all in such downstanding condition. Except the pies. Anyroad you can call me Lord John. But I must say (shouts) IT IS ABSOLUTELY DISACCEPTABLE, WHAT APPENED TO MY GOOD FRIEND LORD CRABS. I mean, there ee is. Doin his level best for Mother Russia, Mother India and old mother Gordon and this appens.
 
(shouts) IT IS ABSOLUTELY TOTALLY AND UTTERLY INDIGESTIBLE THAT THIS SHOULD APPEN. WHERE WAS IS SECURITY RETAIL WOTSANAME?
 
(carries on shouting) I MEAN, THIS APPENED IN DEAD BROADLIGHT, ERE IN LONDON. AND TO A BLEEDIN MIN-ISTER OF THE CROWN OF ER MAJESTYNESS, GOOD QUEEN BRENDA, EVEN THOUGH I’D STRINGEM ALL UP MESELF, BASTARD ROYALS. PARACHUTES IS WHAT THEY ARE, IDLE PARACHUTES ON THE REST OF US.
 
(leans close to camera and shouts louder) I MEAN, THE POSITION OF THEM SECURITY BLOKES IS ABSOLUTELY UNTESTABLE, WHAT IF IT HAD BEEN ME? EDS SHOULD FOLD, THAT’S WHAT I SAY, IN ME PLAIN, HONEST WAY. THE FUCK STOPS WITH THE COMMISSIONAIRE AND HE SHOULD EAT THE KITCHEN IF HE CAN’T STAND HIS FEET. BITE THE MULLET.
 
(shouts louder) IN MY LONG CAREER AS A BARMAN,   A SLAG, A PONCE, A BULLY AND A SWORDSMAN I AVE NEVER SEEN NOTHIN LIKE IT. IT MAY BE LIKE I’M CARRYIN PHONES TO COLCHESTER OR TEACHING YER GRANNY TO SUCK COCK, or is it eggs, BUT SURELY THIS SHOULDN’T APPEN IN A MODERN POLICE STATE. LIKE WHAT WE’VE FORGED ERE. THE PERSONAL SAFETY OF MINISTERS SHOULD BE A TOPLY PRIORITISED ISSUE ON THE MAGENTA.
 
(carries on shouting) AN THAT LITTLE SLUT, IF SHE’D DONE THAT TO ME, I’D-A HAD ME COCK OUT QUICKER’N SHIT OFFA SHOEHORN AND SAID, EEYARE LOVE, FANCY BEIN ME SECATRY? YER NOT OVER THIRTY, LOVE? THAT’S ALRIGHT THEN. TRADITIONAL VALUES IN A MODERN SUIT, THAT’S HONEST LORD JOHN. PETER’S NOT LIKE THAT THOUGH, FISHES FROM THE OTHER BANK. NEVER TRIED IT MESELF. WELL, NOT OFTEN, LIKE, AND WHAT’S IT TO YOU IF I AVE? NO LAW AGAINST IT AN EVEN IF THERE WAS, LAWS DON’T APPLY TO ME. DO YOU WANT A PUNCH IN THE FUCKING MOUTH?  I’M ALLOWED.
 
(calmer now) No, but me thoughts go out to Peter, Lord Crabs; canta bin much fun forrim, avin all that stuff sprayed in his kisser. Musta bin like being back on that yacht, with Ivan the terrible gangster…


BBC, March 2009 : Business Secretary Lord Mandelson has had green custard thrown over him by a protester as he arrived at the launch of a low-carbon summit in London. The protester, Leila Deen, is a member of the Plane Stupid group campaigning against a third runway at Heathrow. The move was a “last resort” after the democratic process failed, she said.
Lord Mandelson said security was a police matter but he did not want to “go back” to the 24-hour protection he had when Northern Ireland Secretary. The business secretary said people should not "over-react" to the incident. Lord Mandelson stressed that he had chosen not to continue with “round the clock” protection - which he is entitled to as a former Northern Ireland secretary - and he hoped this would not now be necessary. No complaint has been made about the incident and no action taken against Ms Deen.
But former deputy prime minister John Prescott, who threw a punch at a protester who had thrown an egg at him in 2001, said it was “totally unacceptable” that Ms Deen had been able to walk away after the incident without being arrested.
Speaking on the video sharing site You Tube, he said the protester could have thrown acid not custard and public figures had a right to go about their business without being attacked.
 

 

Sunday, 17 November 2024

The Sunday Ishmael: 17/11/2024

 You can usually tell just by looking at them. The human race has evolved pretty accurate warning systems about wrong uns. But we suppress our instinctive reactions for social reasons, career progression or economic advantage, or fear of offending the DEI lobby. Or because we're just scared of them. 


This last one was a horror show all by himself. I'm sure you will have heard, or read about the abuse perpetrated by John Smyth, Q. C., and Recorder,  educated at Trinity Hall, Cambridge - if not, Wiki has a thorough account -John Smyth (barrister) - Wikipedia . The Makin Review, an independent review published on the 7th November, concluded that this Christian married man subjected more than 100 boys and young men to "traumatic physical, sexual, psychological and spiritual attacks" over a period of four decades. The sadistic, partially clothed beatings he administered drew so much blood that his wife supplied the victims with adult nappies to prevent them from bleeding on the furniture. He regularly assaulted boys with implements at his home, where he had a special garden shed designed, soundproofed and equipped with a variety of canes. Whilst beating boys a white yachting pennant would be planted on the lawn so that his wife Anne and other family members would know that he was not to be disturbed. Justin Welby, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, forced to resign over his failure to take action against Smyth, is on record as saying that Smyth was: "charming, delightful, very clever, a brilliant speaker".
Smyth's predilection for sadistically beating  boys was not a secret. Just like Jimmy Saville,  it was known about and covered up. The cult Iwerne Trust's camps had successfully indoctrinated and broken the spirit of its graduates over generations, who conspired in keeping Smyth away from the police and Court and allowed him to continue his ready access to further victims - because they didn't want to "endanger the work".
Makes you really glad you attended a state school.
Smyth was a lay reader in the Church of England and chair of the Iwerne Trust, which ran evangelical, Christian camps for posh boys. The Iwerne Trust was  a cult instituted by Eric "Bash" Nash (22 April 1898 – 4 April 1982) a conservative evangelical Church of England cleric. His work of Christian evangelism and camp ministry in the top thirty public schools of the United Kingdom from 1932 onwards was highly influential in the post-war British evangelical resurgence - Christianity having become quite unpopular on account of the First World War, when God unaccountably allowed 40 million humans to die - maybe he got confused about which side he was supposed to be rooting for, having been invoked by all the Christian nations at war with each other.
 Over 7,000 boys attended the Iwerne camps under Nash's leadership. The ostensible purpose was to instruct boys from public schools  in Muscular Christianity and with a conservative evangelical theology, to become future Christian leaders, especially within the Church of England. Muscular Christianity is a religious movement that originated in England in the mid-19th century, characterized by a belief in patriotic duty, discipline, self-sacrifice, masculinity, and the moral and physical beauty of athleticism. All of which sounds very gay to a modern sensibility.

Now, I cannot believe that adult men, past the age of youthful belief and romanticism, actually believe any of this Christian crap. Spending half an hour researching the origins and development of the Christian Church would rapidly convince anyone with half a brain that it was made-up nonsense, which has been very useful politically to keep the underdogs under by promising rewards after they were safely dead. But I do believe that it is woven into the class structure of Britain, that it still wields power and provides, as it always did, a lucrative career structure for posh boys. And a hunting ground for paedophiles and sadists.

Church and State,
Monarchy, prelates of the Church, aristocrats, legislature, Courts, defence forces - indivisible; posh boys the lot of them, carefully groomed into their leading roles by their public schools and spurious christian nonsense,  then growing up to become groomers of the next "elite" generation.
Fucking Ruritania.
So who is next for the Archbishopric of Canterbury? I really don't care - just so long as it's a woman.
Kemi Badenoch, God bless her, is a posh girl, but last month she claimed:  "I grew up in a middle class family. But I became working class when I was 16 working in McDonalds". That caused a furore. Not least among the majority of the working class who are not going to become Leader of the Conservative Party after a teenage stint working in McDonalds. Britain is sick with class, rotted with class, fungoid with class, the networks of which define every citizen of these islands. George Bernard Shaw, in his prologue to Pygmalion, stated: ‘It is impossible for an Englishman to open his mouth without making some other Englishman hate or despise him.’
Interesting that it is now aspirational to be working class - the Prime Minister carries his "my father was a tool-maker" line like a sub machine gun. 


Here in Orkney,  the local paper carries full crime reports every other Wednesday, which is the Court day, when our Sheriff, Robert McDonald (honest, not invent), flies down from Shetland to sort us out.
This week, Sheriff McDonald had to deal with 3 drunk-drivers, 2 paedophiles, 1 faeces smeared on a police detention cell, 2 girls beating up another girl in a pub toilet until the police intervened, whereupon the girls set upon the police officers (I think drink had been taken), 1lad who has buggered off to Australia on a gap year and so didn't show up for his hearing for assaulting a 16 year old to his injury - the annoyed Sheriff said: "I'd expect a better excuse than he decided to go for a wee holiday. If he's not at his trial diet, the Crown will ask for, and I will grant, a warrant and he'll be lifted as soon as he gets off the plane." - 1 domestic abuse, during which defence solicitor Fiona MacDonald (again, honest, not invent. Is she a relative?)
was granted more time because she told the Court: " Regrettably, I'll be struggling to be prepared for the trial diet", a 40 year old chap who breached his overnight electronic curfew imposed for assaulting four teenage girls, by accidentally locking himself out of his house, so couldn't get in to be curfewed - or so he said, and two lads riding a motorbike on a hill.
So when it came to the diet of James Farquhar, Sheriff McDonald might have been excused a little levity. Farquhar was on trial for possession of drugs with intent to supply. They'd got a police drug expert up from Aberdeen, who informed the court that Farquhar had two packages of cannabis in his car, divided into baggies of "a recognised deal size", for onward sale and supply. The defence position was that the cannabis was for personal consumption, to assist Farquhar to overcome his cocaine addiction. Farquhar is a roofer by trade and the drug expert opined: "I'm not sure I would be trusting someone on the roof if they were having three grams of cannabis per day." A small snigger might have been heard from the Bench. Maybe he'd seen Farquhar's work? The trial continues in December.

Staying in Scotland, but abandoning the McDonalds, can I bring Baldy Stephen Flynn  to your attention?
Yes, I know he looks like a thug, but he's currently
leader of the SNP in the House of Commons. He's the MP for Aberdeen South. You'll recall the almost-scandal surrounding the resignation of his predecessor, Fatty Blackford?
In April 2021, an SNP staff member complained about Blackford's handling of a sexual harassment allegation regarding SNP MP Patrick Grady. The complainer alleged that after reporting the incident, Blackford invited him to an "ambush" meeting at which Grady was unexpectedly present, and where he claims he felt obliged to accept an apology from Grady. Blackford denies the meeting occurred as described. The SNP stated it would be investigated.

In June 2022, Grady apologised for the behaviour in parliament after a full independent investigation and was suspended from the House of Commons for two-days over his unwanted sexual advance to a junior SNP colleague in 2016. Following this, a video emerged of Blackford encouraging SNP MPs to provide Grady with "full support" This comment was met with backlash from across the political spectrum and Blackford faced calls to resign. On 25 June 2022, Grady left the SNP whip; it was restored six months later by Blackford's successor.  Blackford then announced his intention to stand down from leadership of the SNP Westminster group on 1 December 2022, ahead of the group's AGM. He denied being forced out by SNP MPs. His successor, Stephen Flynn, was elected on 
6 December. They're a ruthless bunch, the SNP.

Anyway, Baldy Flynn is at it again - this time he has his sights set on becoming First Minister of Scotland - or so me and Martin Geissler believe.  This morning, on the Sunday politics show, he utterly denied that his latest dastardly plan is motivated by anything other than his care for the constituents of Aberdeen South and his belief that he can represent them better than their existing MSP. He has announced his intention to stand for the 2026 Holyrood election, applying for his party's nomination for the Aberdeen South and North Kincardine seat. He says he has full confidence in Baldy Swinney's leadership. The plan means if he gets the Aberdeen South gig, currently held by Audrey Nicoll, his MSP colleague, he will simultaneously act as MSP and MP, therefore becoming Two-Salaries Flynn. He is fully confident of his ability to hold both posts and represent Aberdeen South in Westminster and Holyrood.

This is my Christmas Cactus. Yes, I know, it is a month early, but it's a cactus - what does it know about calendars? It does this every year -  a fountain of frilly pink flowers.

There are four splendid anthologies of the writings of mr ishmael and stanislav, the young Polish Plumber, compiled by his friend, mr verge, the house filthster. You can buy them from Amazon or Lulu. Here's how:
Honest Not Invent, Vent Stack, Ishmael’s Blues, and the latest, Flush Test (with a nice picture of the late, much lamented, Mr Harris of Lanarkshire taking a piss on a totem pole) are available from Lulu and Amazon. If you buy from Amazon, it would be nice if you could give a review on their website.
IIshmaelites wishing to buy a copy from lulu should follow these steps 
please register an account first, at lulu.com. This is advisable because otherwise paypal seems to think it's ok to charge in dollars, and they then apply their own conversion rate, which might put the price up slightly for a UK buyer. Once the new account is set up, follow one of the links below (to either paperback or hardback) or type "Ishmael’s Blues" into the Lulu Bookstore search box. Click on the “show explicit content” tab, give the age verification box a date of birth such as 1 January 1960, and proceed.
Link for Hardcover : https://tinyurl.com/je7nddfr
Link for Paperback : https://tinyurl.com/3jurrzux
https://www.lulu.com/shop/ishmael-smith/flush-test/paperback/product-9yjvn7.html?q=Flush+Test&page=1&pageSize=4

At checkout, try WELCOME15 in the coupon box, which (for the moment) takes 15% off the price before postage. If this code has expired by the time you reach this point, try a google search for "Lulu.com voucher code" and see what comes up.
With the 15% voucher, PB (including delivery to a UK address) should be £16.84; HB £27.04.