mark graham media

Scams R us

25 October 2024

Just cancelled my British Telecom landline because it was costing £90 per quarter standing charge. As their call charges are several pounds per call we never use the system, choosing mobiles instead.

I've had at least one landline since about 1978 so have paid them huge amounts over the years. Now they have charged me £90, which is three months rental in advance, to cancel. Over recent years every time I have been forced to use BT, either in the days of 'Openworld' (also known as 'Open Wound') or when no other mobile signal has been available, they have ripped me off.

Once I am sure that Elon's Starlink system is robust I will switch to that for my Internet connection and literally go over the heads of BT in all its forms. It is still the case that if you want an Internet connection BT is still involved somewhere because that's the way the UK government likes it.

Have the judges gone completely apeshit?

21 October 2024

Peter Lynch, a 61 year old grandfather with three grandchildren, who was jailed for two years eight months for carrying a placard and shouting at the police "you are protecting people who are killing our kids and raping them", has committed suicide in prison. Judge Jeremy Richardson KC heard how Lynch suffered from diabetes, thyroid issues, angina and had recently had a heart attack. The judge accepted "you did not attack [any] police officer".

Mr Lynch, like many of the "rioters" arbitrarily jailed by panicked judges, was, it has been reported, regularly set upon by Islamist extremists, while in prison. Furthermore, it has been claimed by a number of sources, that such intimidation has been sanctioned, if not actively encouraged by undercover government actors, in order to dissuade those who try to resist the official policy of unrestricted immigration from Asia and Africa.

Elon Musk

23 August 2024

The Guardian reports that unnamed members of The Royal Society are calling for "Elon Musk to be expelled" from that august institution for speaking his mind and voicing concern about the state of free speech in the UK. If true it is beyond parody. A person expresses serious concerns about free speech and the reaction from the Great-and-The-Good is "you must shut up"!

This exemplifies what is wrong in this country. People jockey for a chance to join The Establishment and then, once they feel they are "in" they do their best to ensure we have a pickled-in-aspic society where nothing should improve.

This has become the land of smug old farts who are comfortable and don't care about anything or anyone else.

Do not shout at dogs

21 August 2024

When the Establishment gets spooked by a crowd they really lash out. The police and the courts are accustomed to picking off troublemakers one by one. When they are confronted by a mass of the Great British Public who might rock the boat and overturn long established perks they tend to massively overreact.

Encouraged by the fact that the supine masses are always in favour of seeing other people hurt — schadenfreude is the opium of the people — the judges feel they can give way to their basic instincts, throw proportionality out the window, and lock up as many of the lower orders as possible.

People are being given 18 month long sentences for shouting at dogs and writing stupid and overly emotional comments on "X" whereas, in the UK, you could kill someone and still only get two years in the nick.   [UK sentencing guidelines]

Bonfire of basic freedoms

13 August 2024

Not for the first time in recent history members of the Establishment are lashing out at anything and everything that might disturb their privileged world.

Keir Starmer has either spooked the judges, or instructed them, to massively crack down on free speech, freedom of movement and freedom to associate. As the hysterical rhetoric has bounced back and forth between the Prime Minister, the police and the courts, we have seen people imprisoned for writing foolish things (it used to be called 'mouthing off') and harmlessly standing and watching a demonstration that happened to turn into disorder. The police even handcuffed a journalist from GB News because he was wearing a smart suit and tie and looked conspicuous.

We are now living in a 1980s episode of the satirical 'Not the Nine O'clock News' in which PC Griff Rhys Jones arrested a man for "Being in possession of an ugly wife".

A man who was instrumental in the machete killing of a 14 year old boy has been released from prison early to make room for people who have made inadvisable comments on social media.

I remember reading a comment by an elderly Dutchman who said of the Nazi atrocities in the Netherlands, "Things were so dire you had to laugh. No intelligent person could make sense of the scale of the evil."

You have to laugh at the way a small number of ruffians can panic the smug political elite into ditching several hundred years of hard-won freedoms.

The "Far Right"

10 August 2024

I watched some of the videos of the poor wretches being summarily convicted by the courts for rioting on the mainstream media channels.

Not one of them said 'I was demonstrating in support of my political views and I just got carried away'. There was no evidence that these people had any political views so I don't understand mainstream media when it reports that these people are members of the 'far right'. To what political organisation are they supposed to have belonged? What standard right-wing ideology are they to the right of?

Having watched some of them it is doubtful that they could read, let alone understand, a political manifesto. Yet, by some twisted logic, the mainstream press and the government continue to describe these people as both 'mindless rioters' and, at the same time, members of a 'right wing' political organisation.

I stopped watching the BBC about 10 years ago and, because to be allowed to watch any TV channel you have to pay protection money to the BBC, I do not watch any live TV, though having seen the recorded 'highlights' on YouTube, I am clearly not missing anything.

Many years ago there was a chain of roadside cafes called Little Chef. Everything was cooked on an oiled griddle so, whether you ordered chicken, fish or blueberry turnover, it all had this same underlying flavouring, which I happened to like. Watching any of the UK TV channels today is like eating at Little Chef. They select the news that is convenient for them to serve up and it is all reported in the same manner, which is, because children might be watching, aimed at people with the mental age of an eight year old.

Riot or demonstrate?

06 August 2024

FRAGMENTS

I made a point of adding a question mark to the above text. If I had simply written 'Riot or demonstrate' I would most likely be arrested for masterminding a crime. That is the state of affairs we have now reached in this country. The wrong kind of punctuation mark could cost you two years in prison.

The usual balanced reporting from the BBC:

Graham Fraser, BBC Senior technology reporter.

The far-right activist Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was reinstated to the X platform after a five-year ban. The convicted criminal spent the weekend posting inflammatory messages to his 900k followers on X while relaxing in Cyprus.

Dear Mr Fraser - I see you have recently started shaving - I also am a 'convicted criminal'. According to recent figures there are now over 10 million 'convicted criminals' in this country. A rebellious army created exclusively by government.

The left wing media are incandescent with outrage that we are not all slavishly accepting every word they say. This from the Guardian:

Influencers fanning flames from abroad could be extradited. Dominic Casciani, Home and legal correspondent.

The Director of Public Prosecutions says his teams will consider seeking the extradition from abroad of social media influencers who are playing a role in the violent disorder gripping the UK.

"We have liaison prosecutors around the globe, who've got local links with the local judiciary. We can cooperate with our international partners. "We would certainly consider extradition if we are satisfied that an offence has been committed. They must know that they are not safe and there is nowhere to hide."

I suggest the safest place to be for anyone who wishes to voice dissent from the Orwellian British government is The United States, because Tony Blair negotiated an extradition treaty with America that ensures any British citizen can automatically be extradited to the U.S. while anyone over there is safely protected by the American Constitution which enshrines free speech.

Also from the Guardian today:

A man and a woman in their 30s from Chester have been arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated harassment with intent to cause fear and violence following a social media post encouraging members of the public to protest outside a hotel, Cheshire Police said.

Seriously! Citizens now being arrested for encouraging people to protest!

If this statement is true then we now have a two-tier legal system in addition to two tier policing. If this is a misprint by the Guardian then it gives a clue to their mindset. Anyone who protests against them is fair game to be prosecuted.

More from The Guardian:

Supporters of the far-right riots have worked to spread a dangerous myth: the idea that white far-right “protesters” are the victims of a “two-tier policing” system that discriminates against them over their race and political views. Nigel Farage was in Hong Kong as riots spread, says report. Nigel Farage was visiting Hong Kong as far-right riots spread across England and he called for the recall of parliament, the Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP) has reported. The news that Farage was abroad came after he issued a statement on Monday calling for parliament to be recalled. In the statement, Farage, who is the MP for Clacton, also appeared to support the myth of “two-tier policing”. Tommy Robinson has also been revealed as holidaying in Cyprus while continuing his online commentary about the riots. He is among those who are being looked at by police for their alleged role in disseminating disinformation.

So The Guardian is saying Nigel is in Hong Kong but the inference is he is somehow masterminding the riots. Meanwhile Tommy Robinson is being investigated for 'disseminating misinformation'. Since when was 'disseminating misinformation' a crime? This is now beginning to sound disturbingly like the attitude Vladimir Putin takes with dissenters. If talking bollocks is now a crime everyone will soon be behind bars.

Read Not yet dead

More jobs for the 'boys'

Caroline Henry is the Police and Crime Commissioner for Nottingham. She has been caught speeding five times in recent months and a court has now banned her from driving for six months (seems very lenient, doesn't it) and fined her £2450.

Presumably the tax payers of Nottinghamshire will be forking out for a chauffer for a while.

Mrs Henry is the wife of local Conservative Member of Parliament, Darren Henry.

The non-job of Police and Crime Commissioner was created by Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron in order to provide more gravy train jobs for his pals and their wives.

Not up to the job

23 April 2022

Considering there are only 650 Members of Parliament in the British parliament they seem to get into an awful lot of trouble

Jamie Wallis M P for Bridgend

At Prime Minister's Questions today, Boris Johnson praised the bravery of a South Wales Tory who became the UK's first openly transgender MP.

Mr Wallis elected in 2020 spoke out after he was fined for crashing into a lamppost, cutting a village off the internet, before 'running away'.

The Bridgend MP said he was trans, 'or to be more accurate, I want to be'.

'There was a close call in April 2020 when someone blackmailed me, outed me to my father and sent photographs to other family members. He wanted £50,000 to keep quiet.

'The police were so supportive, so understanding and on this occasion the system worked. The blackmailer pled guilty and was sentenced to 2 years and 9 months in prison.

'A few months back, in September, I 'hooked up' with someone who I met online and when I chose to say 'no' on the basis that he wouldn't wear a condom he chose to rape me.

'I have not been myself since this incident and I don't think I will ever recover. It is not something you ever forget, and it is not something you ever move on from.

'Since then things have really taken a tumble. I am not ok.

'When I crashed my car on the 28th November I fled the scene. I did so because I was terrified. I have PTSD and I honestly have no idea what I was doing except I was overcome by an overwhelming sense of fear. I am sorry that it appears I 'ran away' but this isn't how it happened in the moment'.

He added: 'For a while it seemed as though I would be able to get on with things and move on. Being an MP and hiding something like this was always going to be tough, but I arrogantly assumed I was up for it. Well, I'm not.'

 

So, to summarise: (1) he crashed his car because he didn't know what he was doing, (2) he suffers from post traumatic stress disorder, (3) he now admits he's not up for being an MP. The man obviously has many, many problems and deserves our sympathy. However, the last place he should be is in Parliament running the country.

David Warburton

Drugs scandal MP is admitted to a psychiatric hospital: David Warburton's wife says he's suffering 'severe shock and stress' after photos emerged of him with 'lines of cocaine' while he faces probe over his 'unwanted advances on women'.

In Mr Warburton's case, it is understood that a possible link between the release of the material and a foreign Communist party is being investigated.

Mr Warburton was also facing a probe into his financial affairs last night after it was reported that he borrowed £100,000 from Russian businessman Roman Joukovski without declaring it.

He is said to have invited himself back to a woman's flat, where he asked the woman to order cocaine. An audio recording is said to have captured the MP saying that £160 for two grams of the illegal drug represented 'quite good' value.

 

Both these MPs are members of the Conservative Party and are therefore influential in government. Is it unreasonable to ask the question 'what the hell is going on in the corridors of power' when such obviously unfit persons are given positions of importance?

Both the above stories are from the Daily Mail newspaper.

Has capitalism had it's day?

30 March 2022

I don't mean I've suddenly switched sides. I still abhor communism and socialism because they are both built on a lie — that people will always do the right thing if only they are given a chance. The behaviour of individuals and companies on the Internet proves this is a forlorn hope.

The Internet was a pristine blank page when it first came into being. Twenty years later what do we see? It is now a scammers paradise. And I'm not just talking about the so-called criminals. Big business has used it to trick people. From Google harvesting everyone's private details in order to sell them to advertisers (let's be honest, this is theft be deceit) to the major banks pushing customers into using unsafe banking apps by closing branches and then blaming the customers, the Internet has become a tool used by big government and big business to fool and control the population of the world - east and west.

Coming back to issue of capitalism, it is failing because globalisation is transferring all the money from ordinary people to a select few in big business and government. Money is power. If everyone has a little money then everyone has a little bit of power. No money, no power. In the 21st century we see not just millionaires but now thousands of billionaires while at the same time 'mom-and-pop' independent business are closing and ordinary people are increasingly relying on food banks. This is not how capitalism was supposed to work.

I don't have an answer to this problem. I simply state the obvious: capitalism needs a re-boot; capitalism 2.0 if it is to be generally accepted and continues to be supported by nearly everyone. Unfortunately the fix is not an easy one. Who makes the necessary change and then supervises it. For God's sake don't let it be the politicians, otherwise the west simply morphs into China. Allowing politicians to control capitalism is like letting the fox into the hen house.

And that's the difficulty.

Price is supposed to be a function purely of supply and demand. The lower the supply or the more the demand, the higher the price. This mechanism might seem sensible if supply and demand were the only two variables. But what about political intervention; when governments hike taxes, wage wars, or seek to change the way people think and act? We have seen so many times that when a situation gets bad the first thing that happens is prices rise and that makes matters worse. How is the old-fashioned version of capitalism of benefit then? Under such circumstances the price / supply mechanism only serves to protect the income the supplier at the expense of everyone else. In the modern world, in which production is concentrated a small number of mega-corporations, this now means simply that the rich suppliers stay wealthy and protected while everyone else suffers. When the price-supply-demand structure was created it was assumed that supply would be spread widely across a number of providers and there would be competition if one supplier was unwilling or unable to do the job. That model no longer exists.

The danger that is the Internet

March 2022

If all Google did was to produce a list of relevant results in response to questions asked then everything would be fine. The problem is that Google is a multi-billion dollar monster that is forever looking to be become more profitable by being more pervasive.

Google relies on the average guy not understanding how the Internet works. It uses your ignorance and their knowledge to feed you only the information it wants you to see. Why? Because commercial companies pay vast amounts of money to make sure Google puts their names at the top of your search.

The top people at Google are crooks. That's not my opinion, by the way. It's the opinion of the European Union lawmakers who have (so far) fined Google over EIGHT BILLION EUROS for dishonest activities. It is also the opinion of the French government who have raided Google's offices in Paris and fined them in excess of 150 MILLION EUROS for tax evasion.

If you or I broke the law on this scale we would be locked in prison and the key thrown away. Google gets away with it because, rather like Russia, they are too powerful to be punished properly.