Tuesday 2 November 2010

Have I really gone bonkers ? 100 impossible things happen before my 3rd pint

Was it Alice who visited a place where a hundred impossible things happen before lunchtime or something (sorry never read the book and only vaguely remember the quote)?

As I sat on my sofa, knocking back the lagers, I saw on TV last night the following :-

1) A new Tory lead Government is about to sign a military pact with France, which will lead to our servicemen serving under French command

2) A Manchester United goal which didn't make me feel physically sick (Nani's comic moment against Spurs). Couldn't help myself for laughing and hate myself for it

3) We've managed to pass a law so that Dutchmen can legally smoke Pot in London but Londoners can't

Now all of these things are just plain bonkers. Lets consider them in more detail.

If we had a history of cooperation with the French, then it might make sense, but generally the French give our military adventures a very wide berth. I'm not going to start coming over all Xenophobic and anti French, but if we can't afford to launch adventures on our own, where we can make our own decisions, we probably shouldn't be launching adventures at all. We can't fire our nukes without American sign off, soon we won't be able to launch a plane from an aircraft carrier without the permission of a French Admiral. It's time for a very hard decision. We either need to drastically increase our defence spending, so we have a credible set of services or redesign them completely along Swiss lines, so that we'd be impossible to invade. The half way house we have is a cowardly cop out and a fudge that is a complete waste of money.

As to Nani's goal against Spurs. Gomez is a professional footballer on tens of thousands of pounds a week. We tell our ten year olds off in the park for not playing to the whistle. Time for Harry to stop moaning and admit his own player is a moron. He should have come on telly and said "Tell your 8 year olds, that's why the ref has a Whistle". I never enjoy Man United goals, but that one made even me chuckle.

Then there's the EU rule that a Dutchman can buy pot if he has a prescription then come to London and legally smoke it. The catch is he has to be ill. The point is a Londoner with MS or any other disease that can have the symptoms relieved by cannabis can't do it legally. I'm not going to go into the rights and wrongs of drugs law, but the situation is completely bonkers. For the record, I know a couple of people who had MS and who smoked pot to relieve their symptoms. It made life tolerable for them. They are both now dead, through the MS. It is a horrible disease and I think that British law is inhuman in denying a proven medical treatment to people with painful incurable illnesses. Even if you fundamentally disagree with me on that, you cannot argue that the law is far from sensible in its current form.

Ok, that's only three impossible things, which seem truly bonkers. I could list another 97 stupid cuts which I've been reading about in various council papers. Cuts which will hurt our elderly people and force our young people onto street corners in Barnet. Tonight there is a mass lobby of the Council meeting at the Town Hall in Hendon. It runs from 6pm to 7pm. Please come along and lend your support. We will be collecting signatures for the Library petition. If you can't make it, please click on the link in the side bar and sign the online petition.

If enough people turn up, we might see something completely impossible happen and make Barnet Council see sense and protect our services.

1 comment:

Broadway Blogger said...

About cuts....Barnet should cut the money it gives to the Police in Barnet. The Dome costs a million pounds a year here in Mill Hill and is a total waste of resources. That money would be better spent on the library and young people and old people here in Mill Hill.

The money is there to do everything even with cuts. It is just choosing the best way to spend it.

Good luck with the protest and hopefully the petition will work. Would be good to have a Protest March down the Broadway to the Library and speeches at some point as well ! A local protest. I am sure you can persuade many people to attend and I am sure we can rustle up everyone who lives and works on the Broadway. A few hundred people marching in Mill Hill would be a first ! Time for us all to get motivated and to stand up for what we all believe in.