Liberal Burblings

Archive for December, 2006

There is a young lady called Aurelia who sells The Big Issue in Newbury by W.H.Smith.

She has been selling the magazine there for several years, in all weathers. She originates from Romania and lives in one room with her two children and mother.

She recently featured in a photographic survey of Newbury and had her photograph exhibited at the Corn Exchange. I congratulated her on this when I bought a Big Issue copy from her about a month ago.

Recently Aurelia was abused and had cola poured on top of her head by youths. Subsequently, while the Newbury Weekly News was interviewing her at her usual pitch, they reported that she was verbally abused by two separate passing women.

This is outrageous. I made a point of looking for Aurelia this morning but she was not there. I wanted to say how much I am appalled by such ridiculous and offensive abuse. I will make a point of speaking to her soon.

As far as I am concerned, Aurelia is an integral part of Newbury and I hope that she and her family remain here and prosper for many years to come. The people who have abused and tormented her are complete idiots.

Number Ten’s website now has a virtual tour on it. It kills a few minutes. It is reasonably impressive, although I notice it still has “beta” written on it. It has a “beta” feel to it!

I have recently been thinking about what would happen if Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash and Shane MacGowan appeared at an X-factor audition (putting aside, for a moment, the fact that Johnny Cash is in some heavenly choir and Shane MacGowan is otherwise detained enriching Dublin pub-owners).

Imagine the comments:

Johnny Cash: “Hopelessly flat” – Louis Walsh.

Bob Dylan: “Tuneless whining” – Simon Cowell.

Shane MacGowan: “Even attempting to be a pub singer is beyond you” – Simon Cowell.

The Guardian today reports that Gerald Ford gave an interview with Bob Woodward, stipulating that it should only be published after his death. His criticism of Bush’s policy on Iraq is devastating.

That is not just because the critique is from a former Republican President. It is made all the more powerful because Ford bases his comments on the American interest:

I just don’t think we should go hellfire damnation around the globe freeing people unless it is directly related to our own national security.

This really does cut the ground from under the feet of Bush. Most, if not all, Americans apply the test of US national interest to their President’s actions. Ford’s comments emphasise, once again, that Bush is left defending his Iraq adventure in the manner of a Fairy Godmother going around the world trying to spread sweetness and light.

That is not a venture which goes down well in red-necked America.

Last night, I watched the BBC Ten O’Clock news enthralled, because they said they had a story “coming up” on Lembit.

I should have known better. The teaser used that well-known journalistic cop-out – the question: “Could the Cheeky Girls have landed this MP in hot water?”

Well….er….no, actually. The minister, Liam whatshisface, laughed heartily when the subject was mentioned.

It seems that the BBC are guilty of wanting to drag in some sexy video of “The Cheeky Song (Touch my bum)” to sex-up their Ten O’Clock News, together with some graphics explaining Lembit’s relationships and footage from that utterly dire appearance by LLoyd and Opik on “The Keith Barrett Show”.

(Fortunately, the BBC didn’t stoop to reshowing the man playing a xylophone with his…er…member, which was shown to accompanying Lloyd/Opik laughter on that same “Keith Barret Show”.)

The BBC News item was a very sexy little piece which made thousands, including myself, sit through a very tedious news programme to watch.

However, it seems that the only thing Lembit is guilty of is…er…being Lembit. Oh, and he shouldn’t sit with a laptop on his knees like he did in the video shown by the BBC. It will give him neck and back pain.

Thanks to Mark Pack, Duncan Borrowman and Peter on Liberal Review for flagging up the Tory connection (via £100,000 donated by his wife) with Wafic Said.

Wafic Said. I’ve heard that name before, haven’t I?

Indeed, here is a little episode from the life of one Jonathan Aitken, who was Tory Minister of Defence Procurement at the time of most of these events:

September 1993 Aitken is spotted at the Paris Ritz hotel. Said Mohammed Ayas and Wafic Said, two former business associates, were also seen there at the same time. His bill is paid by Prince Mohammed bin Fahd of Saudi Arabia.

October 1993 The Guardian is tipped off by Mohamed Al-Fayed about Jonathan Aitken’s recent stay at the Paris Ritz. When contacted by the paper, Aitken maintains his wife settled the bill.

April 1995 The Guardian reveals that Aitken’s Paris Ritz hotel bill was paid by the Saudis.

June 1997 Aitken’s libel case against the Guardian and Granada collapses when evidence shows that he, his family and friends had lied to the court. Airline tickets show that his family could not have been in Paris during Aitken’s stay in September 1993, and Aitken’s claim that his wife paid the bill is false. He and his wife announce their separation soon afterwards, and he is stripped of his membership of the Privy Council.

Here’s another Tory connection for Wafic Said, from the Guardian of 15th December:

It was not only princes and their officials who were said to have benefited but also, allegedly, Mrs Thatcher’s son, Mark, through his friendship with one of the intermediaries, the Syrian/Saudi billionaire Wafic Said.

…and shiny new David Cameron took £100,000 on behalf of the Conservative party from this man’s wife and then, it allegedly seems, created no hullabaloo or even the merest squeak when the BAe-Al-Yamamah case was dropped.

Fascinating. Fas-cin-at-ing.