RED BARON'S WORDS

The mounting propaganda that we are forced to wade through is ever-increasing and in a world dominated by a small number of extreme right-wing media moghuls the control of the media is one akin to the iniquitous control of the land.

The Iraq war is but one example though it is all wrapped up with a total saturation policy which whilst it has often been used has rarely been as successful as in the present day. Many may be under the impression that their opinion of events from the facts they receive is one based on substance because they see so many sources all of which give a similar version of events with a slightly different flavour. They rarely hear any genuine dissent and mistakenly believe that this may mean there is none. The truth is so very different.

John Pilger here touches on the complete whitewashing of the facts to suit the occupying forces in Iraq’s needs and the continued use of the devil-like figure. The invasion of Fallujah, much of the early fighting in Sadr City were all put down to supposed Saddam-loyal insurgents and names like Moqtadr Al Sadr and Al-Zarqawi have been bandied about with little or no analysis or questioning as to where the facts come from. There have been many reports outside the mainstream media that Al-Zarqawi either does not exist or has already been killed. One might initially think this may preclude his use by the US as a universal scapegoat for insurgency but actually it fits their purposes very well because as Pilger describes he can be an elusive Scarlet Pimpernel-like figure, even more effectively than Osama in the caves of Tora Bora.

It is all very easy to deny this is going on, where is the proof etc. and whilst it would be equally easy for me to turn around and level the same criticism back I prefer to try to at least establish a genuine element of doubt in people’s minds. It is more effective if you find these things out for yourself rather than just take my word for it. What I can do is show that at almost every stage of this process the US administration and their UK counterparts have sought to cover up their real agendas with populist claptrap in a vain attempt to get the public not to scrutinise too carefully. At each point their rhetoric has been deconstructed it has been shown to be at best a poor interpretation of sketchy facts and at worst outright lies. The governments have used all their tricks to avoid being held to account on this including sewn-up judicial enquiries to exonerate them from blame whilst placing the onus on the public broadcaster for “mistakes” in reporting. Mistakes which have been shown over time to be in fact truths.

The recent spate of attacks against internal civil liberties clearly show that this government is not going to piss about. You will not deviate from the prescribed view and if you think of doing so we reserve the right to lock you up for 3 months after which time you will not deviate from the prescribed view. If you think of HMP Belmarsh as Room 101, Guantanamo Bay as the Ministry of Fear, then perhaps the parallels are more obvious. Yes, 10-15 years ago things could be bad and I know all too well of the old days of the British justice system “Where a man is innocent until proven Irish” but we never faced such a concerted co-ordinated onslaught on what little freedoms still remain.

If you choose to resist you must face up to what your limits are and how far you wish to push it. Personally I go on marches where I am filmed and photographed by the police, I write this blog which can be viewed by many that may or may not agree with my views. I receive and send emails that I know can be read at any time by either the UK or US authorities, likewise my mobile phone conversations will all go through that same rigorous screening process at listening stations like RAF Menwith Hill. I have perhaps the fortune not to have to adhere to some of the proposed ID legislation in this country because I do not hold a British passport, but it is quite likely that “foreigners” like me who have lived here most of our lives may well be required to sign up to some of it if we wish to remain resident here. Furthermore since I am intrinsically opposed to the whole process I hope I will be able to fight with the same vitriol as if I was in the same parlous state as the British ‘Subjects’, after all, back to Pastor Niemöller, if we don’t all fight now there will be simply less of us for next time.

Song Of The Day ~ Hard-Fi – Hard To Beat

Original Comments:

guile made this comment,
nice, cozy place you got here :)..
-Redbaron responds – Ta, works for me!-

comment added :: 12th October 2005, 09:00 GMT+01

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So now we see Gordon Brown’s vision of the future, this man who would supposedly bring the governmental policies back a little toward the left. Brown’s dream is to create a nation of “home-owning, share-owning, asset-owning, wealth-owning democracy,” all £££, Brown is clearly as New Labour as his predecessor as if he thinks that the key to a successful country is one where everything continues to be based on what you have rather than what you are then he is a true capitalist.

Frankly I would have hoped for a better vision of a world than that. One where we have what we need but that is merely incidental to having established a fair society. To judge oneself on what we have is a world wherein lies the road to madness. It perpetuates the gap between rich and poor and, contrary to what certain sources would have you believe, this is not in inexorable path.

It is a hell of a break from the traditional Labour vision of old, one where the watchword was equality for all. This departure from such noble objectives make a mockery of any hypothesis that Gordon Brown is in any way going to depart from the New Labour direction. Since Brown is likely to go into the hotseat unopposed he will be the first non-elected Prime Minister this milennium, John Major being the last to have held such an ignominious honour after he succeeded that caustic bitch and before his election victory in 1992, (which was more down to Labour losing the election than the Tories winning it.)

I suspect those who think Brown may be the saviour of the more traditional Labour party will be as disappointed as they must have been when the Cassandra theory was proven untrue in 1997. For those unfamiliar with the theory it was reported before the election in 1997 in Tribune, a paper dominated by the more old Labour style, that although the New Labour viewpoint being projected by the then opposition under Tony Blair was an anathema to most grass roots Labour supporters, this was a smokescreen, a way simply to get back into power and when that objective was achieved the real work of an intrinsically old Labour government would begin.

Much as that theory would have been nice to believe, most of us non-Labour affiliated on the Left did not give it a great deal of credence. It seemed like a last tree standing in the midst of the gales that those who didn’t want to leave the Labour party were clinging to for dear life. The great pity is that had the Labour party remained genuinely true to its roots and campaigned on a proper Socialist manifesto they would still have been a shoo-in in 1997 and who knows what might then have been the situation by 2001, certainly there would have been no support for the US war on Afghanistan or Iraq and that alone would make the country a profoundly different place to be.

It makes no difference to speculate on it now, for the day after Gordon Brown outlined in his speech that he would continue the Blair legacy, Blair made it quite clear he would not be going anywhere for a while – I don’t know which was the more tragic revelation.

Song Of The Day ~ China Crisis – Wishful Thinking

Original Comments:

Anonymous35 made this comment,
This is really a great blog. Keep up the good work. I envy how you have managed to get so many people to come and read. You have inspired me to get back to my political philosophical roots and write much more about capitalism, globalization and the social condition. More of us should be writing about these deseretely important subjects, especially in my fascist country, the United States.
-Redbaron responds – Good to have you aboard Christopher, if you write they will come, to paraphrase a film I remember.

I started out with some politics and some diary stuff and over time it became almost all political, you lose some of your readers that way but the ones that stay repay in kind with comments and critiques.

If I’ve in any way inspired you to write and read and criticise then truly I can have no better epitaph. –

comment added :: 28th September 2005, 16:03 GMT+01 :: http://www.madoptimist.blog-city.com
Cancergiggles made this comment,
It’s a damn close call. Blair is such a consumate politician that I some times forget that as a consequence I should ignore everything I am told by him. I actually find myself listening to what he says and judging him based on that. Am I a Dumbo?
More worrying however, is the prospect of the equally duplicitous and bible thumping Jock being able to interfere with more than my wallet. He’s already mucked that up, but give him Law and Order and god forbid, the international stage to play with and we’re all off to hell in a hand basket.

Let’s just hope Tony Benn gets better soon – it’s our best bet!

Cass

comment added :: 29th September 2005, 19:38 GMT+01 :: http://www.cancergiggles.blog-city.com/
moog made this comment,
where is that wall? its great! i loved having that good old protest the other day! it was a lovey meander through london! haz said he really enjoyed it too, which is a boon.its always nice to see labour turfing out grumpy old men, it remeind me of why i didnt vote them in last time.
-Redbaron responds – That is your actual Berlin Wall that is. How I got some retrogressive graffitti on it is another story!-

comment added :: 30th September 2005, 16:00 GMT+01

So an historic day for Irish history. The IRA has decommissioned its weapons, in the words of the head of the decommissioning body retired General John De Chastelaine, “We are satisfied that the arms decommissioned represent the totality of the IRA’s arsenal.”

Furthermore the 2 priests one Protestant, one Catholic, observers demanded by the Democratic Unionist Party, also stated that this was the complete dismantling of the IRA’s weapons. “At the end of the process it demonstrated to us – and would have demonstrated to anyone who might have been with us – that beyond any shadow of doubt, the arms of the IRA have now been decommissioned.” -Rev Harold Goode (Protestant). I do not know how more unequivocal Rev Goode could possibly have made this statement.

The decommissioning body has had to be sensitive that the process be carried out without giving the impression of surrender or defeat, this has long been something Unionists have attempted to exploit even when IRA ceasefires have held and decommissioning has been discussed. I have heard Unionists drop what might seem like throwaway comments about the IRA’s surrender etc. in interviews. Make no mistake this is very calculated it is designed to inflame tensions and mistrust.

Of course today finally unmasks the reactionary and obdurate nature of the Unionist parties who have used the lack of total decommissioning as a method of avoiding the power-sharing institutions. They no longer have this option and their rhetoric now is very transparent indeed. Their criticisms are now not of the IRA having not decommissioned but of the lack of transparency of the process. Jeffrey Donaldson of the DUP tried to claim that the party would have been satisfied with photographic evidence as well as an inventory of weapons. Eddie Mair interviewing him on the BBC at the time pointed out that neither photographs nor a static inventory would prove irrefutably that all the IRA’s weapons were gone nor would it guarantee that the IRA would not buy any more. This is therefore a complete red herring. The Unionists are clearly bereft of a idea with substance consequently they are clinging to whatever fragment they can to deflect attention from the fact that they now have no further reason to obstruct the movement towards genuine peace and devolution in Northern Ireland. Perhaps now the real reason will come out that the hardline Unionists never did want devolved government in the 6 counties, they want to remain a small part of a larger UK because their protestant aims are better served in this environment rather than ceeding any sovereignty to the Catholics.

The Unionists are making the point that there are still dissident Republicans, there is still an issue of criminal behaviour and the Provisional IRA as an organisation has not formally disbanded. This is a cynical sidestepping of the issues at hand because the Unionist paramilitaries are still very much active. Unionist paramilitaries are also still involved in criminal activities and sectarian fighting and in-fighting.

The job of the decommissioning body is now done as far as the remit was for the Republican paramilitary side. Now attention centres on the loyalist paramiltaries and unsurprisingly the Unionists remain silent on this issue.

As per usual the British government are content to humour the extreme Unionists in a way that does not extend to Republicans. When the IRA were suspected of the Northern Bank robberies Sinn Fein, a party with democratically elected representatives was banned from any part in the governing process of Northern Ireland. However the Unionists will be allowed a great deal of time to cogitate on this and formulate their latest grounds for objection. The objection will happen and you will not find the British government threatening to allow Ulster’s self-rule to continue without the Unionist extremists. Why is this, because the British have everything to gain from an Ireland in turmoil. After all this detracts from the rememberance that it was their screw up in the first place – whether you trace it to the partitioning of Ireland in the first place or further back to the positioning of the protestant blue Scots.

Why is it that the world wants reunification in Germany or Korea etc. but not Ireland? Why should Ireland remain partitioned when it is a wholly artificial socio-political construct? It is a debate which will continue to rage until the matter is settled and I can see no other way to do so than the option of a united Ireland.

Song Of The Day ~ Rory Gallagher – Don’t Know Where I’m Going

Original Comments:

John made this comment,
I’m with you for a united Ireland Baron, but I fear that ‘King Billy’ will live on.
comment added :: 27th September 2005, 14:45 GMT+01 :: http://bigjohn.blog-city.com/
Mark Ellott made this comment,
During the nineteen seventies, the idea of a reunited Germany seemed a pipe dream. When it happened, it happened suddenly due to a critical mass of popular opinion among German people. I would like to see a united Ireland in the same way – although the groundswell just doesn’t seem to be there at the moment. So, too, a reunified Cyprus.
Until the raving bigots such as Paisley are removed from the political scene, things will not move forwards. We can only hope that a new generation will see through his odious bluster and vote him out. Well, one can hope…

comment added :: 27th September 2005, 18:39 GMT+01 :: http://longrider.blog-city.com

As if to garner up all the waiverers, as if any more reason were needed to convince people to have taken to the streets yesterday Jamal alerted me to the following story which has just been released by David Mery who was recently picked up and arrested under the terrorism laws for looking allegedly suspicious whilst at an Underground station. The actual facts of this case are staggeringly banal and go much of the way to show how the tragic murder of Jean Charles De Menezes at Stockwell station occured.

For those of you outside the UK, I suspect you may not be aware of the plight of the Brazilian man who was the wrong colour and in the wrong place at the wrong time and paid for it with his life.

The initial reports on the day in question were that a man had been shot in London having been thought of as a serious terrorist suspect. Eye-witness accounts were quick to come out that the man was of Middle Eastern origin and that he had been carrying a rucksack with wires coming out of it.

A great deal of this information turns out to be what people wanted to see, the truth is rather different.

On the morning in question at 9.30 Jean Charles De Menezes left home from his flat in South London a building which was being watched by police. At that particular moment in time the on duty surveillance officer was having a piss so unable to give report on whether De Menezes was the suspect they were looking out for. De Menezes boarded the number 2 bus to Stockwell tube station, a surveillance officer reported that whilst he could not identify him positively as Osman Hussein, the man under police surveilance he claimed De Menezes had distinctive “Mongolian eyes”.

The “gold command” was issued at this point, this macabre directive gave armed officers the authority to stop de Menezes from going into tube station and the powers to apprehend using any means necessary specifically allowing police to kill the suspect.

Initial reports directly after the event suggested that de Menezes had run into the Tube station thus giving police officers the impression that they were going to have to stop him by force. Eye-witness reports claimed that a man of asian extraction had a heavy jacket on with a rucksack that some claimed had protruding wires. They say that warnings were given and the man tried to escape police. This all turns out to be far from the case, as can be seen from CCTV footage de Menezes did not run into tube stn. in fact quite the contrary he stopped to pick up a Metro free newspaper, did not vault ticket barriers as had also been suggested but used oyster card to operate barriers. De Menezes was not wearing a heavy jacket, not running away from Police, he only quickened step to catch the arriving train and it was at this point that armed officers were given positive identification and authorisation to shoot to kill. No warnings were given – De Menezes was grabbed round the arms and torso and shot 7 times in head from 12 inches.

It is therefore not only extremely disturbing that the police are pursuing a shoot to kill policy but all the more so that there should be such a slapdash process in the leadup to such a terminal and tragic outcome. It is almost as uncomfortable that due to the nature of the propaganda war that so many people can have been duped into believing they saw precisely what the establishment wants them to see. Sadly this is not the truth and exposes the danger of this ficticious war. You only have to look at Charles Clarke, desperate to make link between 2 London incidents in July despite evidence suggesting they were not linked. One has to seriously question the 2nd incident, there are many factors that do not add up.

If the propaganda is properly deconstructed it becmoes patently obvious how they are continually trying to ferment fear, mistrust and anger so as to erode every last piece of costly civil liberties that we have. They will use any weapon of the modern times to do so. To try to limit the damge from the de Menezes fiasco the right-wing prief received briefings that apparently de Menezes had overstayed his visa and was therefore working here illegally. This was designed to off-set the fury of the liberals and the left with the idea for those on the right that this was the killing of an illegal alien. This was a callous and cynical smokescreen from the truth which was that the “war on terror” has led the operations of the state to murder one of its citizens. Will Tony Blair stand trial for the murder of Jean Charles De Menezes? After all Chief Comissioner of the Metropolitan Police claims that the shoot to kill policy was authorised at the highest level. No, the likelihood is that the officers responsible will get out of it under the defence that they were “just following orders”. The government will lament the failures in intelligence and announce an investigation to be carried out by a ‘safe pair of hands’ Lord. That’s the current modern way. You have 2 choices: accept it as an inevitablity and shut the fuck up for fear of being shipped off to Belmarsh, or do something about it with the possibility that if you become too much of a threat you’ll be shipped off to Belmarsh. So, book me in for a bed in D Wing by the window. Just call me Prisoner 57819!

Song Of The Day ~ Bloc Party – So Here We Are

Original Comments:

jamal made this comment,
To be honest, when that cell door closes on you, bang on the wall and you may find its me that replies!
The continous erosion of our liberties in this country is a joke. It will continue as the majority will believe the propaganda and therefore support it in one way or another. What it will really take to overcome the injustice spurred on by the terrorist hype will not stop unless people are prepared to experiance some hardship to achieve change. The state has substantial control and I cant realistically see it decreasing in the near future. These day even the “radical” protestors have to apply for a permit before they march! I read recently an article about the detention terror laws which is effectively imprisonment without trial or reasonable guilt. Nonetheless, many will sit in their houses thinking this is just. personally i think there are graver times ahead!

-Redbaron responds – I’ll make sure I bang on the wall, Jamal, it’ll be nice to have a chat with someone! I think indeed you may be right about the grave times ahead but I think this may have the effect of forcing a galvanisation of support one way or the other. There is no longer much space in the middle ground so extreme are the policies. Whether or not those of us against the system as it stands can unite against our common enemy in which case we would win easily, or whether in-fighting allows us to be picked off by that enemy group by group, that I cannot say. –

comment added :: 26th September 2005, 00:25 GMT+01 :: http://opinionated.blogsome.com/
Mark Ellott made this comment,
I think most of us who are concerned about our liberties picked up on the David Mery story. Welcome to Britain, land of free speech, expression and movement.
-Redbaron responds – I wish I hadn’t known about it before the w/e, made for a slightly uncomfortable tube ride into Central London what with me all decked out for the march and carrying a small black rucksack! –

comment added :: 26th September 2005, 15:52 GMT+01 :: http://longrider.blog-city.com
Mark Ellott made this comment,
As an addendum to that, I’m not convinced that this is a straightforward left/right divide as you imply. Rather, it is authoritarian/libertarian. The folk over at Samizdata are as far to the right as you could imagine – they frighten me sometimes – but they are equally horrified by the Mery and Menezes stories. Their solution is an armed populace that shoots back…
-Redbaron responds – It’s worth exploring, but I think I have my authoritarian moments, I am not after all an anarchist and the system I favour has more structure. I think that those on the right who may consider themselves libertarian are not being realistic as to the causes of this problem. Samizdata’s answer to it is a prime example. –

comment added :: 26th September 2005, 15:58 GMT+01 :: http://longrider.blog-city.com
Mark Ellott made this comment,
Indeed – and no, I’m not in favour of a gun wielding populace either… It’s worth bearing in mind that the Samizdatas will regard this behaviour as epitomising the left in much the same way as you have referred to it as being of the right. Left and right are more to do with one’s position on economics rather than big government and overbearing state control. This is very much about a government that has gone off the authoritarian scale. Consequently, we find ourselves on this issue at least, sharing the same platform as the gun totin’ Samizdatas and the hunting lobby. Big Brother is making strange bedfellows for us…
comment added :: 27th September 2005, 17:49 GMT+01 :: http://longrider.blog-city.com

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Time to stand up and be counted.
This is a Global day of action so there may be events near you, please take part if you can.

Oh and for those of you in London, there’s a minor chance you might see Moog and The Baron!

Song Of The Day ~ Guster – Amsterdam

Original Comments:

Shane made this comment,
Almost worth the flight from Edinburgh to London to bump into you and moog..actually..No..on second thoughts it isn’t. Good luck though. Shane
comment added :: 22nd September 2005, 17:53 GMT+01 :: http://thegagreflex.blog-city.com
Padme made this comment,
Did you ever go on a site called studentuk? Hope you dont mind me asking!
comment added :: 24th September 2005, 17:58 GMT+01

Oh this really is the thin end of the wedge. Not content with arresting and detaining 7 people yesterday following raids in London and Manchester under “Immigration laws”. Charles Clarke, a home secretary who appears to be attempting to model his tenure on that of his predecessor who in turn modelled his on Himmler, defended the detention as the men were thought “not conducive to the public good”. Well, fuck me that’s a new one!

Some of those detained were reportedly amongst the 8 individuals cleared in a British court in April having been accused of plotting to spread poison in Britain. If these reports are true then it outlines the policy that by hook or by crook if the government doesn’t like you then it’s going to get you by any means necessary. We are told that they are being held on grounds pertaining to the Immigration Act 1971 but rarely are these cases allowed to be deconstructed in public to determine what these grounds are and what leads up to them. One might be excused for thinking that if they held 8 men in custody that that knew to be already in infrigement of some immigration laws it is highly unlikely that these men would have been released following their acquital on terrorism charges.

Initially my response to the statement from Charles Clarke was one of disbelief coupled with a frisson of fear, it was then that the Paster Niemöller quote came back to me and I was reminded of just what a precedent this sets and how easily it lends itself to comparison to totalitarian regimes we have known in the past.

“First, they came for the Communists, and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist. Then they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the Catholics, and I did not speak out because I was not a Catholic. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak out for me.”

I found that quote kind of chilling when I was studying modern German history some 16 years ago. I find it all the more chilling now for its resonance with the modern day. There is clearly now a systematic attempt to remove certain types of people from society, not only that but the branding of these people is sufficiently ambiguous that if the laws designed to purge said “undesirables” proceed it will only be a matter of time before any group of people deemed a threat by any government in this country is in serious trouble.

Charles Clarke is currently attempting to get laws passed in Parliament to allow the arrest of people for “acts preparatory to terrorism.” This term is so wishy-washy that you could find yourself at Paddington Green police station having done no more than bought sugar, alcohol, baking soda, a dishcloth and something in a bottle within the same shopping expedition.

“There are only four ways in which a ruling group can fall from power. Either it is conquered from without, or it governs so inefficiently that the masses are stirred to revolt, or it allows a strong and discontented Middle group to come into being, or it loses its own self-confidence and willingness to govern. These causes do not operate singly, and as a rule all four of them are present in some degree. A ruling class which could guard against all of them would remain in power permanently. Ultimately the determining factor is the mental attitude of the ruling class itself. … From the point of view of our present rulers, therefore, the only genuine dangers are the splitting-off of a new group of able, under-employed, power-hungry people, and the growth of liberalism and scepticism in their own ranks. The problem, that is to say, is educational. … and … the level of popular education is actually declining.”

-George Orwell ~1984

Song Of The Day ~ The Dead 60s – Riot Radio

Original Comments:

Mark Ellott made this comment,
Once again, Orwell says it so well.
I am deeply ashamed to have campaigned for this government in two elections. My only excuse is that I believed they would be better than their predecessors…

Well, you live and learn.

comment added :: 17th September 2005, 10:30 GMT+01 :: http://longrider.blog-city.com

I have recently come across the Impeach Bush campaign and have to give it my full backing. Basically the notion is that to drum up support everyone in support posts and links using the phrase Impeach Bush as much as possible. This way it will be prevalent in recent searches and search engine results all over. I like that use of technology to encourage a campaign, not to mention the fact that the Impeach Bush campaign is very justified in calling for said impeachment. There are some links for you to look at Vote To Impeach, Impeach Bush.tv and The Four Reasons

If you support the campaing then please post about it, feel free to use my links or entry as you wish for it. There is also mobilising for the demonstration in Washington coinciding with the global Anti-War action day on Sept 24th. Details of the demonstration can be found here. This is the first demonstration in a while to be able to demonstrate in Pennsylvannia Ave. itself so if you’re anywhere near there I strongly urge you to lend it your support.

For those in the US who may want further details of the demo you can get from the Act Now To Stop War & End Racism A.N.S.W.E.R. website. A.N.S.W.E.R. and Impeach Bush are working together regarding the co-ordination of the demo.

For those in the UK the date is the same, for details of the march in Central London you can look at the Stop The War Coalition and all being well I may see you there.

Original Comments:

Kristie made this comment,
Brilliant. I’m behind this. Of course, in this country, only a blow job in office gets you impeached, of course. That’s a national scandal. Selling off the government and selling out the citizens? Why, that’s just “bidness.”
Soooooo bitter am I.

comment added :: 14th September 2005, 16:02 GMT+01
Chris made this comment,
Glad to see another who supports impeaching Bush. You should join the coalition here: http://impeachbushcoalition.blogspot.com
Peace, Chris

“I wish the world was run by love, and absolutely nothing more.”

comment added :: 17th September 2005, 09:30 GMT+01 :: http://frenchcafe.blogspot.com
Tabacco made this comment,
Open Invitation To The Red Baron from Tabacco
Red Baron:

I already emailed Hillary Clinton that I would support a 3rd Party Candidate if she supported the War into 2008. But I may have found another candidate, whom I can support without reservations. His name is http://redbaron.blog-city.com/

PS I am available for campaign manager!

-Tabacco

-Redbaron responds – Ha ha ha ha, excellent, yes I can just see myself in that office telling all the NSA guys to fuck off and pack up their stuff! Sadly whilst we Irish have conquered much in the US we are not allowed to run for president not if we’re still Irish anyway, and me being a few thousand miles away doesn’t help either! Nice thought tho’ I shall ponder on that a while and hypothesise about all the wars I could stop.-

comment added :: 28th September 2005, 22:22 GMT+01 :: http://tabacco.blog-city.com/