Friday 28 August 2009

A non political, political view!

Never having been a political animal I am amazed at the vemon within me, especially the venom that has grown since the inception of "NuLabour" over a decade ago. I remember the first time I saw 'Adolph' Blair on the tele, can't remember the occasion but can clearly remember thinking "oh my God, who is this grinning jackanapes?" A term to be coined by the press a few years later. I also remember thinking he looked about as sincere as a baboon's backside! It was then that I started to take a meagre interest in politics. I niaively thought that all politicians were elected as the best options considered by the people to serve the people! What a fool I was.
It soon became apparent that my simplistic political beliefs were just pure garbage-bit like NuLablour proved to be.
The biggest political factor that had stuck in my mind was the "King Arthur v Maggie" battle that had the miners 'up in arms' over pit closures and mass unemployment prospects. I remember 'King Arthur' pulling up in his £30K merc' and rallying the penniless troops (miners) with fine words and unrealistic promises of victory. I also recall a sympathy with the miners but a realisation that "Maggie" was a massive odds-on shot; well 1/100 actually.
With her inevitable victory the north of England began to settle down again but now with a new deep rooted hatred for the Conservatives-after all, "THEY" had destroyed a way of life. I often wondered how the Conservatives would fight back from this complete loss of faith in what rapidly became known as the 'Northern Heartlands'-especially for Labour politicians.
As it happens they haven't had to!
To the disbelief of millions, NuLabour ignored all human rights issues, all considerations for all factions of our society and any thought of discrimination by introducing the total smokeban. In one masterstroke of political madness they promptly handed the initiative back to all other parties. In one vote they ostracised 25% of the population of this country by forcing them outside to have a relaxing cigarette. Oh yes the trumpetting about the 'greatest piece of legislation (re health care) by any political party in the history of parliament' was much banded about the tabloids & TV for anyone to absorb; well, until they had received enough of this bunkum! What the idiots within the party did not realise was that they had been infiltrated by 'do-gooders' anti smoking units and killjoys to such an extent that party leaders either didn't foresee the carnage to come or simply didn't care. After all, Blair stepped down 3 days before the smokeban law came into force.
In one fell swoop they broke the hearts of the very people who voted for them almost religiously every election-the Northern Heartlands. As I travel around the country I have never heard so many 'dyed in the wool' labour supporters now curse the day Blairism hit the country. The miners/Maggie scenario was now secondary to what was happening here. With the impementation of this ban the Labour party had most certainly snatched defeat from the lingering jaws of a possible victory at the next election!
Whilst the anti smoking brigade back slapped each other at the wondrous victory they had engineered through Blairs administration not one of these retarded babbons considered the economic impact the smokeban would have on this country. After the smokeban came the recession, yet the man who sold our gold reserves and led us neatly into the recesion was now the new Blairite, except he was Brownite-with an 'sh'!
Amazingly, as pubs & clubs shut their doors for ever, the numbers increasing on a weekly basis, it occurred to not one of these 'dumbkopf's' that the economy was being seriously hammered by the 'greatest law ever'. Less people going out within the hospitality sector equals less money being constantly circulated, which in turn, equals fewer pickings for the remaining pubs & clubs. That in turn leads to cutbacks in staff which eventually leads to dole queues being severely elongated. Dole queues being extended by such large numbers can only lead to one thing-poverty! We are now spending more on benefits than we a 'taking in' from the employed....Mr Micawber anyone? The smokeban will reduce this country to poverty status before these buffoons realise what they have done. I can't wait to see the anti smoking lobbyists scream in anguish as their earnings are suddenly taxed at a 30% higher rate to make up the shortfall in treasury coffers-caused of course by less revenue from tobacco and higher smuggling rates, less revenue fron beer sales etc, etc.
You see, they haven't cottoned on yet that although the majority in this country have been battered into submission by fear of fine/penalty for the most unimaginably petty infringements-most of which the normal man in the street would have no idea about-the smokers have spoken with their feet. They have marched out of the pubs & clubs, happier to smoke at home than freeze outside a hostelry whilst no one drinks inside. Supermarkets are lapping up the boomtime 'cheap beer sales' thrust upon them by an unwitting government for it gets more punters through their welcoming doors which in turn means they will sell other items as well and boost their already gargantuan profits.
Any other group of individuals eg, homosexuals, lesbians, the disabled (to name but a few) all have rights, yet it seems that smokers have none! Why is this? Why are smokers the new lepers of our society when we contribute in excess of £12bn per annum in extra tax to our government. Incidentally, we are the least expensive to treat according to Dept of Health statistics!
Through all this we see that Mr Cameron has a golden opportunity to right the wrongs of all that is/was Blairism-but has he got the balls? Are his party going to rectify the terrible wrong inflicted on 25% of the population or are they also going to bend to the will of these quango's funded by the government itself? In fact, now that the smokeban has been enacted, why are these self styled policy makers still being funded? Why has fox hunting been banned-what harm does it do? OK, it's a sport for the more wealthy of our society but it provides wages for people, enjoyment for many and keeps the fox population in check so why ban it? Will Mr Cameron revoke this pathetic ban?
Sadly for the Conservative party it seems that their bike riding leader merely wants to follow in the footsteps of 'Adolf' Blair and allow the overpaid extremist views to dictate all our lives, not allow us to choose for ourselves-which of course is our basic human right. Will Mr Cameron be man or mouse, will he accept the golden gift of power that this Labour lot have presented to him? No election victory will ever be as easy as this forthcoming event. Labour are dead and buried thanks to their own inadequacy of spotting charlatans within their midst and the penalising of the populace for any & every possible misdemeanour to be thought of.
Labour may even find themselves not the opposition party after the next election as new, but rapidly growing party may well usurp them at the ballot box. One thing is for certain, Labour are dead and buried, now who is man enough to step up to the plate and allow the people their basic human right of choice?

Thursday 13 August 2009

The Publican's Unhelpfulness!

Today saw the unveiling of Pubs' recession struggles revealed in Publican Market Report, a much awaited piece of useless written garbage by some within the industry. This is the report that would tell us the results of the last two years trading withion the industry. let's go for it!

Perfect opener "The true extent of the desperate difficulties pubs are facing to stay in business are revealed in this year’s Publican Market Report." (I'm impressed!)
"As recession grips the country, licensees up and down the land are finding it harder and harder to make a profit. Latest figures show that more than 50 pubs are closing a week and, of those that remain open, profits are either down or down a lot at 57 per cent. "
"Those struggling the most appear to be lessees and tenants with two out of three (65 per cent) saying trade is down. "
from there on in the report fails as miserably as any sane person would expect it to!
Recession
.....Recession
..........Recession
For God's sake, just how pathetic is this 'voice' of the trade. Recession? What came before the bloody recession-let me see! Oh yes, of course, the small matter of the SMOKING BAN.
Remember it? July 1st, 2007. The day that clean air pubs attracted millions of new non smoking and non drinking customers. Something tells me that they are still waiting for both sets of imbibers to launch themselves at our rapidly diminishing stockpile of boozers!
According to one:- "To help combat the effects of the recession, pubs have been forced to drop training and cut staff hours." Hang on a minute, aren't rules and regulations getting ever tighter as licensing laws are now firmly clamped around the throats of licensees. How can they possibly cut corners with such demands in place? How can they possibly admit to providing 'possibly undertrained staff'? But staff hours, well that's normal practice, except it means the licensee ends up working 100 hours per week for possibly less than the minimal wage!
Quote:- CAMRA chief executive Mike Benner said he was “not surprised” by the level of support for minimum price structures. What a wussy! Anything but the truth to rely upon.
Throughout the whole of the report presented byThe Publican there is not one mention of the starting point and main exponent of this hospitality sector disaster-the SMOKING BAN.
It is unbelievable that a journal that purports to support its legions within the industry either can't see the damage caused by the smokeban or simply doesn't want to recognise the obvious because advertising fees might suddenly diminish due to slating the Pubco's for not fighting the ban. (Hang on-they had a hand in it!)
Meanwhile they are quite happy to spout utter tripe about beer ties, pubco models, beer taxes etc but steadfastly refuse to print the truth. That the two main pubco players backed the wrong horse seems immaterial. Choice was not wanted for the simple reason that "some non smoking pubs may be forced to close".
Well upon my soul, now that they are all non smoking, more than 4,000 have gone to another dimension. Why the Publican are still supporting Thorley/Tuppen on the road to Damascus-sorry-Disaster, I'm buggered if I know. If they had the balls to admit they were wrong this ban would be amended within months. Neither of these Pubco genius's could sell every single pub and hope to come out with a profit-such is the dismal state of their empires! Shareholders who believed all the government hype pre-ban are loathe to admit they are still shareholders. Truth is such an expensive dream at the moment-and it will only get more expensive!
Meanwhile all the poor people that have their life savings/investments tied up with these pubco's must be quaking in their boots at the start of each day.....is a customer even liable to walk through the door?
If my local pub is anything to go by, 75% of pubs might as well set up a bar in the smoking shelter after 8pm! Yet should the 'PC' brigade ever gain the bollox to admit the smokeban is the true killer of the industry, should the media ever have the bollox to admit the smokeban is the creator of all problems pub and stop pandering to government 'quango's (ASH et al) we might find the hard up, struggling and fearful of the future licensees thrown a lifeline-an amended ban where CHOICE reigns supreme.
Let non smokers have their own pubs or parts of a pub. Let licensees decide for themselves whether they want smoking pubs or non smoking pubs-I'll have a wager on the percentage outcome!
In a country that is supposedly democratic (I'd almost forgotten the word-thanks dictionary!) we have become surprisingly adept at being undemocratic. We pander to the asswipes at ASH who are driven by hatred of that which they don't agree with and watch this country slip further into the financial mire thanks to the £50m spent on the most ludicrous crusade ever. People still die-when your numbers up? sorry folks.....your numbers up!
Smoking is a freedom of choice. Pubs should have the same freedom of choice. Licensees should always have had freedom of choice. Drinkers should have freedom of choice-that is democracy funnily enough!
So next time we wait with bated breath for The Publicans Market Report-don't bother!

Friday 7 August 2009

Hypocrits v Lunacy

We have over the past 2 years seen virtually every form of pond life appear in one guise or another. Cruella DeVille has appeared to bollock smokers to death should they dare need an operation. We've had the usual culprits spewing out fantastic quit smoking figures in the face of NRT's 98.4% failure rate. and we learn that money is being spewed down the smoke cessation soilpipe like it's gone out of fashion-hang on, it has gone out of fashion! we're bankrupt!

In America, California to be exact, we have the amazing sight of smokebans causing financial carnage to such an extent that "I'll be back" (good old Arney) is now contemplating legalizing marijuana. Yes, our illustrious governor of good old 'Cali' is considering legalizing the substance as it will bring in £1.4bn per annum. So that's it then, case proved! Smokebans skint businesses, skint tourist trade & skint regional areas so lets legalize smoking pot! It's utterly brilliant really, smoking is banned but this 'different' form of smoking is to be legalized so as to earn state treasuries money. The blatant hypocrisy is immeasurable.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world where Americans & British soldiers dutifully give up their lives in the name of freedom on a daily basis (sadly 3 more killed today) we find that despite all the war torn trouble & strife, Iraq are imposing their own smoking ban-in the name of health! FFS! HEALTH?
It's got to be the most unhealthy country (alongside Afghanistan) in the goddamned world. I mean, it's full of flying lead poisoning which is fatal. Every step could be your last as 3,000 nails can send you explosively skyward or you could even be talking to a local one minute and be in a thousand gory bits the next!
How the bloody hell in the name of all normality the Iraqi government can be contemplating a smokeban when there is carnage in every quarter as they repel the infidels is totally beyond me, and probably every other sane person in this country. The world has been taken over by hypocrits and lunatics - and the simple reason folks?
Smokebans, the WHO & the NWO - the former the result of intolerance from the latter pair of arsehole groups!