Celtic's midfield and the Scottish Defence League?

In the underwhelming aftermath of last week's EDL/SDL 'static' demo in Edinburgh, I found myself doing a spot of online research into those guardian angels who have taken it upon themselves to defend me - a Gaelic speaking atheist - from the 'Muslamic' hordes who apparently are massing somewhere between Berwick and Jedburgh. Anyway, during my rumaging through various forums and Facebook pages, I come across a certain Celtic FC midfielder, Scott Brown. 

In case you didn't know, around 100 football hooligans claiming to represent the Scottish and English Defence Leagues as well as 'Casuals United' chose to congregate in the centre of Edinburgh against the wishes of the democratically elected local council. This lead to a huge police operation (and tax bill) and a headache for ordinary citizens wishing to go about their business on a Saturday afternoon.

Just why do they feel threatened by Muslims? Are they gonna try and erase our Scottish culture and identity? Will they beat our Scottish language out of our kids? Wait a minute... haven't Anglicised Protestant Scots already done that? And, don't we already have various versions of Abrahamic mania - like the Wee Frees and Catholic Church - who seek to force their violent religion on us?

Whatever, it was kind of interesting to see a current member of Celtic FC rub shoulders with the violent right-wing and sectarian/ racist (no-one really knows which yet) SDL.Celtic FC are of course, the 'nice' half of the Old Firm - a progressive force for liberté et égalité whose current chairman is former Commander of the British Army in Iraq, John Reid. Nuff said there.

The interesting bit is that Scott Brown is wearing Celtic colours and is obviously representing the club. The SDL guys appear to be representing their own organisation, something that Brown doesn't seem too concerned about. According to other comments on the Facebook page, fellow Celtic player Anthony Stokes apparently chose to stay in the vehicle. Proof maybe that Scott Brown is not the sharpest tool in the box?

Then again, if Scott Brown is displaying his lack of critical faculties, he's in good company. Even the SDL aren't too sure of who they are if picture below is anything to go by. This tattoo was proudly displayed by one SDL member on said Facebook page. This comes after the well circulated 'Muslamic rape gangs/ ray guns' video on You Tube. Maybe we should welcome more Muslims to Scotland as maybe they could teach the SDL and EDL a bit about the grammar of their own English tongue?

Join the SDL: high IQ not required

This leads me back to the question of just who and what the EDL and SDL are? Racist? Fascist? Sectarian? The vast majority of them seem to be involved in football violence - organised violent crime in other words. The 'EDL' seems to be just another excuse for a scrap. After all, why would ordinary Scots want a gang of criminals who can barely master the English language as self-nominated defenders? And why do they have a bee in their bonnet about Muslims? Having said that, it was interesting to read a complaint from a Rangers' fan who complained that he was attending a wedding with his South American girlfriend on the Royal Mile when she was racially abused. Other SDLers have been photographed throwing the Nazi salute while some of them profess support for Israel. They truly are a weird bunch. Maybe their biggest beef is with ordinary people who are lucky enough to have 5 fingers on each hand?

But, if they really want to 'defend' Scotland then... why don't they 'defend' small Scottish businesses on the 'traditional high-street' against voracious big business like Tesco? Will they 'defend' native flora and fauna like the Caledonian Forest or the capercaillie? Will they 'defend' the indigenous Gaelic language of Scotland? Will they 'defend' native crofting communities against the whims of rich landowners, be they Scottish or foreign? Will they 'defend' the rights of Scottish people to good living standards such as reliable and cheap public transport, free health care and good state education that's free from the interference of private companies? Or why don't they content themselves with saving stray cats?

The EDL and SDL make much of 'supporting our troops'. However, the respect has not been returned. War veterans in Scotland expressed opposition to SDL plans to march past the cenotaph in Glasgow. Little wonder. Why would some dignified old men want drunken football hooligans 'paying respect'? What are they gonna do? Urinate on the Cenotaph?

These guys are idiots and criminals. I'm not much of a royalist nor a Daily Mail 'law and order' type but I'd be very happy for Her Majesty's Police Service to give this lot some 'British justice'.

Respecting our troops? Or saluting English architecture?

Squaddies in free schools?

There is one 'Union dividend' which us Scots should really appreciate and that is that under the Act of Union, our education system remained independent. It may have let us down at times - such as in the 1872 Education Act which effectively demanded an end to the use of any language other than English as a medium of education. This lead to more than a century of kids in Gaelic speaking communities from Stirlingshire to Sutherland having their community tongue forcibly removed. But, it was ours to keep and to improve.

Enlightenment has seen big strides in Scottish education since those dark days. The new Curriculum for Excellence promises to put research, inquiry and rational thinking into the heart of the classroom. Rather than teaching to the exam and filling kids' heads with lists of dates and facts, why not teach them to ask, to enquire and build their own skills?

England is stuck with a right-wing mentality and a top-down attitude to education. Fill their heads with 1066, 1945 and 1966. And, if they forget or object... lets get our unemployed squaddies in to 'give' them some discipline.

No wonder that Terry Deary, author of the Horrible Histories, hates schools. In a recent article in the Independent, he:

... brands the national curriculum the "biggest disaster in British history".

"W B Yeats said education is not filling a bucket but lighting a fire. The national curriculum has turned children into buckets. And teachers are just bucket-fillers now. Dividing knowledge into subjects is a very archaic approach to studying."

On top of elitist 'free' schools, the latest ConDem wheeze to appeal to goose-stepping chattering classes of Middle England is to put soldiers into schools. It seems incredible that in an age where anyone teaching a child in any form of the word is vetted for any kind of criminal record that politicians would want to put brutalised, war ravaged and institutionalised basket cases into 'teach' our kids is incredible. The British Army's track record on discipline ain't that hot either. Apart from the cases of torture in Iraq there are the numerous sad incidents of bullying in British Army barracks such as Deepcut which has seen many teenagers left dead, either through murder or suicide.

Just what untrained soldiers are meant to achieve is not explained. Trained teachers can use many methods to deal with unruly pupils. Teachers in Scotland's schools regularly work wonders with some of the damaged young products of our society. Their efforts may ultimately count for nothing but that is more likely than not a result of failures to address poverty, addiction and violence in many of our communities. General permissive attitudes in society towards anti-social behaviour haven't helped - and here, I'm thinking more of MP's, bankers and journalists than hoodies.

So, will Cameron's short, sharp, shock squaddies beat up wee Jimmy if pulls a face during a Maths lesson? Perhaps insolent wee Billy will just be stripped and urinated on? 

In the meantime, I'll take my lessons from the kind of progressive and multi-lingual education systems we see in the Basque Country, Finland and Norway.

Porridge Wogs and other irritants

As South Britain returns to normal after unprecedented scenes of rioting by inner-city youth - black in some places and white in others - the chattering classes of Anglodom - such as David Starkey - are looking for someone to take their anger out on. Strangely enough, the mass lawbreaking and disregard for the 'rule of law' is apparently a result of 'mass immigration'. 

Did the Romans leave too many roads? Did the French leave too many of their words in the English language? Did the Norse leave too many Lewis Chessmen? Did the Italians use their network of chippies to ferment unrest? Or was it the Japs who cunningly stayed in their own country but flooded Britain with superior technology? Or did the English get drunk on too much excellent Belgian and German beer?

Or is it just a matter of skin colour? If so, how does that explain the white mobs who ran riot in Manchester or even sleepy Gloucester? And, did an army of 'asylum seekers' force Westminster MPs to fraudulently claim £millions in expenses? What about the snooping of News International journalists? I know that Murdoch is an Australian-cum-American but somehow I get the feeling that the English right-wing don't mean that kind of foreigner. Whereas Mr. Chav of Tottenham uses a brick to steal a television, the likes of Jim Devine MP or Sir Peter Viggers just used an expenses form.

But when reason prevails, kind of... they change the rules and resort to the kind of reasoning you get from Bible-bashers. The whites only rioted because they have 'become black'. What about the Scots then? Well, we're just Scottish and that itself is a good reason for hatred. Even self-hatred. When Alex Salmond correctly pointed out that these riots were not Scotland's problem, the combined forces of Unionism in Scotland could not step out of their comfort zones and defend Scotland's tourist trade and image overseas. Scotland does indeed have problems - crime and violence included - but these riots were patently not happening in the 'UK'.

Starkey is strangely reminiscent of the Top Gear crew. As Steve Cougan observed of Jeremy Clarkson and his snide comments about Mexicans, these guys are like the school bullies. Very insecure and eternally worried that they may become the school whipping boy. These are the kind of boys who would love to be on the football terraces with the lads but are scared in case they get picked on themselves for being posh or gay. Instead, they ferment hatred of others and use their shared sense of Englishness to form bonds. Rumours are spread... did you hear that...

• The immigrants are flooding in and taking our jobs?
• 'Muslamic' rape gangs are targeting our women?
• Rap music and hoodies are corrupting our youth?
• The Irish are thick?
• The Scots take English money?
• Gaelic roadsigns cause accidents and cost money?
• The guy in the curry-shop supports Al Qaeda?
• 10% of every Runrig record sold goes to the Real IRA?
• Overpaid teachers are teaching homosexuality?

Gimp masked up and good to go.

This may be especially true for Starkey. His homosexuality should not be an issue but I get the feeling that some of his new racist friends might not think so. Stop immigration? Cool. Teach school children that homosexuality is entirely natural? Hold on a minute Davy boy...

It reminds me of a commemorative rally for Franco held in Madrid a few years ago where the Castillian gentry stood shoulder to shoulder with Nazi boneheads in one solid right-handed salute. Here though, we have the likes of Starkey, Clarkson, the Tories, UKIP, the BNP leadership assuming the command while the proles of the EDL do the 'street work'.

The fact is that to the forces of conservatism in Britain - we are all wogs. If you're not black or an immigrant then... you're a trade unionist, single-mother schemie on benefits, drug taker, Gaelic speaker who has the nerve to demand some services for his/ her tax money, dangerous atheist, lawless hoodie dancing at illegal parties, dirty hippie, Gypsy traveller etc...

Koombyah my lord.

Lastly, the Christian soldiers of the EDL and their comrades in North Britain have been prevented form holding a march in Edinburgh. At first I thought that this may have been due to sex-equality legislation as the EDL, in common with their fellow extremists in Islamic groups, seem to be entirely male. Something which Starkey would no doubt enjoy. Both groups also seem to have a penchant for religion and masks. However, Edinburgh's coonsull took the uncharacteristically sensible step of telling the football thugs of the EDL to do one.

Others have commented on all these issues too. Check these out...

An open letter to those who condemn looting

Look at England's urban spaces: the riots were inevitable

Incredibly, Peter Oborne in the Daily Telegraph also waded in with a dose of reason.

The moral decay of our society is as bad at the top as the bottom 

Damn or fear it, the truth is that it’s an insurrection

Ian Bone: Put an end to violence.

Sunshine on Leith.

Spot the hooligan

 

In the current angst ridden climate of soul-searching and moral debate, Tocasaid feels obliged to chuck in its six cents worth. One of these men is a danger to society. To help you guess, some here's some clues:

• One grew up on an estate where he didn't have to work and had everything provided for him.
• One man has admitted to causing criminal damage to a posh restaurant as a member of school gang.
• One has a close work colleague and 'friend' who is a convicted arsonist.
• One has a friend, known as 'Boris', who has also been involved in vandalism whilst in a school gang. Apparently, he now 'runs London'.
• One is the leader of a large 'crew' who are currently engaged in killing and mass destruction in a north African country.
• One has a close friend and 'soul mate' who has been convicted of being a peeping-tom and of invading others' privacy.
• One is 'top dog' in a gang of swindlers who have defrauded the tax payer - that's YOU - of millions of pounds in order to give themselves a decadent life of luxury. And duckhouses for their ponds.

Having worked out the correct answer, the next question is 'what do we do with this scumbag?'. Answers on the back of a Job Seeker's Allowance Form please.

Nick Clegg and Nick Clegg

Dear Tocasaid,

I wonder if there is any relation between the Nick Clegg who last year predicted 'Greek style-riots' under Tory rule as a response to widespread public service cuts - see attached video below - and the Nick Clegg who this week said that the riots under Tory rule were not anyway caused by political circumstances. The similarities between the two men are striking though they would appear to come from opposite sides of the political divide. The Clegg from last year was an apparently well-intentioned Old Etonian millionaire with professed left-of-centre progressive views. The Clegg from this year is also an Old Etonian millionaire but one with a repugnant right-wing viewpoint.

Are they by any chance related? We should be told.

Yours,
Confused,
North Britain

England's riots - Dave gets tough

Dave fi the estate is getting tough. But who is he gonna fight? Maybe his old hoodie pals from yon hug-in? Fortunately, the Daily Mail, the Daily Telegraph and a coded message on a ouija board from Oswald Mosely have let him know where the blame lies...

blecks, atheists, gays, punks, bad teachers, socialism, immigrants, multiculturalism, Scottish nationalists, single mothers, the Irish, the European Union, transsexuals, Polish immigrants, lesbians, Amy Winehouse, Welsh speakers, Libya, Gerry Adams, the Guardian, Gaelic speakers, squatters, Sikhs, Viz Comic, alcopops, hooded tops, Arthur Scargill, blecks, rappers, Lenin, Jade Goody, sex education in schools, Kenny MacAskill, the unemployed, Gypsies, asylum seekers, the miners, hippies, the Last Tango in Paris, cyclists, Muslamic extremists, liberals but not Lib Dems, the internet, Bob Marley, cannabis users, French farmers, ravers, the trade unions, lager louts, sandal wearers, Ken Loach, political correctness, Channel 4, Alex Salmond, CND, Crass, Tommy Sheridan, Belgians, sex on television, Richard Dawkins, blecks, atheists, gays, punks, bad teachers, socialism, immigrants, multiculturalism, Scottish nationalists, single mothers, the Irish, the European Union, transsexuals, Polish immigrants, lesbians, Amy Winehouse, Welsh speakers, Libya, Gerry Adams, the Guardian, Gaelic speakers, squatters, Sikhs, Viz Comic, alcopops, hooded tops, Arthur Scargill, blecks, rappers, Lenin, Jade Goody, sex education in schools, Kenny MacAskill, the unemployed, Gypsies, asylum seekers, the miners, hippies, the Last Tango in Paris, cyclists, Muslamic extremists, liberals but not Lib Dems, the internet, Bob Marley, cannabis users, French farmers, ravers, the trade unions, lager louts, sandal wearers, Ken Loach, political correctness, Channel 4, Alex Salmond, CND, Crass, Tommy Sheridan, Belgians, sex on television, Richard Dawkins, blecks, atheists, gays, punks, bad teachers, socialism, immigrants, multiculturalism, Scottish nationalists, single mothers, the Irish, the European Union, transsexuals, Polish immigrants, lesbians, Amy Winehouse, Welsh speakers, Libya, Gerry Adams, the Guardian, Gaelic speakers, squatters, Sikhs, Viz Comic, alcopops, hooded tops, Arthur Scargill, blecks, rappers, Lenin, Jade Goody, sex education in schools, Kenny MacAskill, the unemployed, Gypsies, asylum seekers, the miners, hippies, the Last Tango in Paris, cyclists, Muslamic extremists, liberals but not Lib Dems, the internet, Bob Marley, cannabis users, French farmers, ravers, the trade unions, lager louts, sandal wearers, Ken Loach, political correctness, Channel 4, Alex Salmond, CND, Crass, Tommy Sheridan, Belgians, sex on television, Richard Dawkins... and Banksy.

http://www.banksyunmasked.co.uk/

England's Arab Summer - time to name and shame

As someone old enough to remember the riots of Brixton and Toxteth in the 1980s as well as the mass unemployment caused by a hated Tory government, there's a sense of deja-vu about this - our very own Arab Summer. 

The morality of today's rioters isn't that clear cut though. On one hand, its not just cops and shops that are the targets but ordinary people's homes. On the other hand, if you're an unemployed person, young or middle-aged, and have sat and watched greedy bankers wreck the economy and be rewarded with fat bonuses as well as corrupt Westminster MPs line their pockets then you may think, 'Well, they lead, I'll follow'.

Add to that mixture, the revelations of Rupert Murdoch's sick News International empire break the law by spying on ordinary people and by paying corrupt police for information. The police themselves seem to kill with impunity and when held to account are never charged with murder like other murderers. As well as that, we've seen successive Labour and Tory governments override international law and wage war on small 'undemocratic' nations such as Iraq, Afghanistan and now Libya. We've heard Cameron talk in glowing terms of the rioters in Syria and Libya though the freedom fighters on the streets of Bahrain were a bit too close to upsetting his oil-rich pals in Saudi Arabia.

"But" says the Daily Mail and outraged conservative navel-gazers everywhere, "if these people want change, they can just vote."

Those 'nice' rioters in Syria.

To be frank though, just who the fuck are unemployed English youths of any racial background meant to vote for? Every single one of the big three Ugly Sisters of Westminster - Labour, Tory and Lib Dem are run by privately educated millionaires. Even the lunatic fringe parties of UKIP and the BNP are lead by wealthy wide-boys with posh accents. The present ConDem government can only just scrape together more than 50% of those who voted with only 1 in 3 voting for Cameron and those voters mostly in England. No wonder Gaddaffi thinks that the UK has no right to challenge his leadership of Libya.

England and by extension, Scotland, have some of the most iniquitous societies in Europe. Under Labour, the gap between rich and poor actually widened. The whole Labour/ Tory circus at Westminster is like some kind of mutual masturbation love-in. Tony Blair and Gordon Brown were inspired by Thatcher. David Cameron was inspired by Tony Blair. Nick Clegg is inspired by David Cameron. In London, we have the buffoon Boris Johnson - the kind of Eton caricature who is inspired by lighting his own farts.

As things stand the best employment opportunities for many young people in parts of England and Scotland are in the armed forces. That's your choice - dole queue or Taleban target. Why seek to hold the Olympic torch when you can go and torch the Armani store?

Back in the day, I remember a bus load of Hearts' supporters - many of them striking miners - returning from an away game cheer loudly when the radio announced the death of a policemen in rioting in London. Today, there will be many who look to England and say, 'destroy our jobs and communities, destroy society and this is what you get'.

The need for Scotland to divorce itself from this kind of society and aim for a progressive and egalitarian society as we see in the small Nordic nations has never been greater.

Daily Mail readers with guns

Years ago, there was an Anti-Fascist Action leaflet that spoke to working class voters of the realities of the BNP. With a montage showing the then Tory leader John Major superimposed onto the booted physique of a Nazi skinhead, the title said 'BNP: Tories in flight jackets'. I also remember seeing a news item on a commemorative rally in Madrid for fascist leader Franco just a few years ago. The crowd was a curious mixture of wealthy Castillians and nazi boneheads. I wonder who called the shots there? With Norwegian uniform freak and self-confessed "Christian conservative" having apparently name-dropped Gr8 Brittish right-wing blawhards like the Daily Mail's Melanie Phillips and even Jeremy Clarkson in his manifesto, should M15 switch its attention away from Islamic extremists to Daily Mail readers?

Of course, the nice blue rinsed middle-English readership of the Daily Mail and Express would not condone such an action. However, the constant drip, drip of prejudice that emanates from their pages is unquestionably designed to stir up hatred against anyone they don't like, be it Muslims, single-mothers, gays or Gaelic speakers.

And that's the strange thing. Conservatives by definition should seek to 'conserve' their local environment. It's obvious that they baulk at the influx of dark-skinned foreigners while welcoming white-skinned foreigners, such as Rupert Murdoch. However, the British isles have always been multi-cultural or in a state of cultural flux.

There have always been significant numbers of people who followed other gods or none. Or who spoke different languages, such as Scottish, Irish, Norn or Welsh or even the Latin of the church and the French of the royal families. There has always been homosexuality. There have always been 'illegitimate' children. There have always been asylum seekers or just migrants. There have always been people seeking to help others in their communities and communities seeking to help individuals. I'm thinking here of those who were too old or physically unable to work being given a share of the seabirds on St Kilda or the guga in Ness. Or even remote islanders giving food and shelter to shipwrecked Spanish Armada sailors washed up on Hebridean beaches. Or even the Asian travelling salesmen of the 1930s who learned Gaelic to ply their trade in the Scottish Gaidhealtachd and were given a warm welcome - see Iain Crichton Smith's An Duine Dubh.

Call it socialism maybe.

I don't live in hope but perhaps the day will come when conservatives accept the diversity of their local environment. It is ironic, but kneejerk xenophobic warmongering moralistic conservatism - in all its guises from New Labour to the Tories to UKIP to the EDL to Anders Breivik to the Roman Catholic Church and Orange Order or Islamic militants- is more of a threat to society than any of their usual bugbears. Norway for example has been a mainly progressive nation since winning its independence in 1905. However since then the most significant assaults on Norwegian life and society have come from the Nazis and Breivik.

We used to hear much here of Sinn Féin's 'ballot box and the armalite' strategy. Perhaps an unofficial and unmentioned strategy links the likes of the Daily Mail, Daily Express and even Jeremy Clarkson to Breivik and those in the EDL? Some talk, others act?

Whatever, I tend to agree with AFA's old maxim that there should be 'no platform for fascists'. Fascism doesn't start with concentration camps - or gun massacres, that's where it ends.

For more topical reading, check out:
http://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2011/07/25/the-roots-of-the-far-right/
http://libcom.org/history/articles/afa-anti-fascist-action
http://beatingthefascists.org/
http://www.justseeds.org/blog/2009/09/interview_with_martin_lux_anti.html
http://www.mailwatch.co.uk/forum/

Update:
Interesting piece on the proposed EDL march in London and how it should be dealt with. Its interesting too to read in one of the comment links that the EDL are now trying to distance themselves from former members who may have had contact with Breivik. I guess it's not good PR for an organisation that claims to have 'Christian European' values at heart to be exposed as being not only a mentor for but complicit with someone who massacred innocent 'Christian Europeans'. The fact remains that the EDL and militant Islamists are just different cheeks on the same arse.
http://ianbone.wordpress.com/2011/07/29/dont-ban-the-edl-march-in-tower-hamlets/

Murdoch: London Calling

What better way to get your head around the enormity of  Wappinggate, Rebekahgate, Tapgate, Filthgate etc than by kicking back with the Clash on loud and a large dram of Bunnahabhain. Coming hot on the heals of 'Duckhousegate' and the MPs' expenses scandal then it's little wonder that an increasing number of Scots are seeking independence from a London that seems to be sinking in corruption. Certainly, after watching Michael Portillo on Newsnight last week, I fail to see a 'sense of fair play' as one of the constituent parts of the 'British' identity.

This latest episode in shame stems from the megalomania of an Australian though. Not only were child murder victims, dead soldiers' families and other people, famous or not, deemed worthy of having their phones bugged but the ordinary staff on News of the World are being shat on too. Murdoch senior and Murdoch junior are at this point, standing by their hypocrite of a former editor.

Upon receiving a lengthy communique from James Murdoch last week, ordinary staff thought that is was to announce the resignation/ sacking of Rebekah Brooks. But no... somewhere down in the 18th paragraph, ordinary staff were told that it was they who were losing their jobs.

Murdoch's middle finger as seen on Twitter.

News International are bloodied but unbowed. They see the whole mess as being the fault of the Guardian or the chinless and unconvincing millionaire leader of the Labour Party. There has been no apology. Worse of all, there seems to be a determination to rub salt into the wounds by establishing a 'Sun on Sunday'.

Joe Strummer would have loved it...

The ice age is coming, the sun's zooming in
Meltdown expected, the wheat is growing thin
Engines stop running, but I have no fear
'Cause London is drowning, and I live by the river

Seeing Rebekah Brooks hounded by packs of journos and angry protesters has brought some light relief though. After all, the Sun and News of the World has whipped up more than enough hate of others over the decades: from glorifying the deaths of hundreds of Argentinians with their 'Gotcha' headline to slandering the dead and injured at the Hillsborough tragedy to inciting mobs of morons to attack paediatricians in a campaign to 'out' paedophiles.

Those British boots go kick Bengali in the head
Police sit watchin'
The newspapers been read
Who cares to protest
After the attacker fled
Out came the batons and
The British warned themselves

Poor Rebekah, like the harassed youth in the 'Guns of Brixton'...

The money feels good
And your life you like it well
But surely your time will come
As in heaven, as in hell

Capitalism is dog eat dog, a constant cycle of boom and bust. Murdoch's support for Thatcher indirectly lead to death of much of our industry. Let's hope his empire starts to crumble as well.

If you can play on the fiddle
How's about a British jig and reel?
Speaking King's English in quotation
As railhead towns feel the steel mills rust water froze
In the generation
Clear as winter ice
This is your paradise

Moral compass meltdown

Poor Tommy Sheridan. He may or may not have fucked up. He may or may not have fucked a woman or two outside of precious wedlock. Whatever, he felt the wrath and vengeance of Rupert Murdoch's News of the World - that beacon of morality, shining its light out over a dark sea of filth where only the likes of sodomites, single-mothers and asylum seekers sail.

Its a bad news day for the guardians of morality.

First, we find out that the newspaper that was so outraged by claims that Sheridan took part in '3 in-a-bed' romps was bugging the mobile phone of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler while she still remained 'missing'. The News International stable is infamous for tasteless or outright offensive practises - remember the Hillsborough tragedy anyone? - but surely its sister paper, the NoTW, takes the biscuit for lowlifery. Is it any wonder that tabloid journalists usually occupy the same rung on the ladder of shame as do child molesters and Margaret Thatcher?

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14032287 
• http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/apr/18/hillsborough-anniversary-sun-newspaper
• Don't Buy The Sun

Then we find out that Sheridan may have been spared prison. It seems as if some vital emails in the possession of News International went 'missing in Mumbai' prior to the trial which saw Sheridan's former socialist comrades cosy up in bed with dirty Murdoch's organ.

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-14027007
• http://news.scotsman.com/news/Tommy-Sheridan-39might-not-have.6795925.jp

AC Grayling thinks that tabloid journalism in the UK is a major impediment to a more informed and progressive society. Its hard to argue with him.

From the point of view of culture, and in particular from the point of view of British culture, a lot of visitors to the United Kingdom say how surprised they are by the unpleasant, rather raw nature, rather degraded and superficial nature of popular culture in the United Kingdom. The tabloid newspapers, the popular magazines, which are all about “celebrities”, which are all about a certain kind of voyeurism — they hunt in packs, the tabloid press, chasing after people, first to extol them and then to tear them down when they're up. And that there's a presumption that if a nail sticks up, it's got to be hammered down, so anybody who's a bit special in society or sticks out in a certain way is likely to get a hammering by the tabloid press. AC Grayling

If this is all rather depressing then news from the last tribal outpost in Western Europe might cheer you up. The deeply religious people of Northern Ireland are so hungry for flesh that 'houses of ill repute' are doing a roaring trade. This, despite the likes of blawhard bigot Doctor Reverend Iain Paisley preaching to his flock that if they want to be 'loyal' to God and Ulster then they first need to stop sex before marriage, oppose sodomy and spend each Sunday in church. His Roman Catholic 'counterparts in the magic arts' preach the same except they're not too bothered about the Sabbatarian bit as long as you shake your rosaries every once in a while.

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-14021724 

This comes not long after Peter Robinson's clean-living, family values campaigner and homo-hating wife Iris was found to be indulging in a bit of sodomy herself with a younger man that was not her husband.

• http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8433580.stm 
• http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2010/jan/07/iris-robinson-fall-evangelical-christian 
• Have you committed an "abomination" today? 

Amen.