Free Republic

An estimated quarter of a million people lined the streets to St Paul’s to bid farewell to Margaret Thatcher. We turned up mainly, of course, to pay our final respects to one of the greatest political leaders of the western world. But we came also, I am sure, to demonstrate how the tiny minority of bile spewing ersatz “revolutionaries”, eagerly sought out by the well heeled chattering class hacks from planet BBC/Guardian did not speak for the ordinary folk of all ages and from every walk of life who came into London today.

This is Romany Blythe, the drama teacher from Brighton who encouraged everyone to piss on Margaret Thatcher’s grave.........This is, or was, Erika. She was a young student who was a real revolutionary. She and thousands of other brave Hungarians came out onto the streets of Budapest in 1956

Hot Air recently mocked Chris Matthews when he predicted a Hillary Clinton White House from 2016 until 2024. But when you consider how deeply the US media elite would be in the tank for the lady the prospect should be worrying.

One of the reasons Afro-Caribbean boys underachieve is because schools don’t have the same expectations of them and don’t hold them to the same standards as other ethnic groups. At our school we hold every child to the same high standards. What is unusual about our school isn’t that we have strict rules, but that we enforce them. Quite often in school they will have an elaborate code of conduct, but they just won’t enforce it, and that sends a very bad message to children.

In Chapter VIII of “The Wind in the Willows” by Kenneth Graham, Mr Toad is in prison, steeped in despair when the gaoler’s daughter brings him…..toast….

An heroic soldier from Shropshire, who led a bayonet charge over 90 yards of open ground in Afghanistan under a hail of enemy fire, was today awarded the Military Cross for his bravery.

Only deep down towards the end of the piece, however, does the “fearless” BBC offer up a “by the way, please move along, nothing to see here” factoid During the trial there were demonstrations by far-right groups after it emerged that white girls were being exploited by the gang, eight of whom were of Pakistani origin, with another from Afghanistan. OMG – those crazy “far-right” groups with their racist agenda….take to the hills……oh, wait a minute However, Greater Manchester Police said that there was no racial element to the case. It said that the main issue was older men exploiting...

I’m in my 70s and remember skating round to this at Brixton Roller Rink (long gone) when I was a teenager, trying to impress the girls – and someone else was also probably checking out the talent at the same time across the ocean… I’m 68 and this is my favorite R’ n R’ instrumental of all time. Reminds me of Bond’s Ice Cream parlor back in 1957 in Cedar Grove, NJ where I spent more time than I did in my own home. Plonking around on an acoustic guitar at home trying to copy the guitar solo (and failing...

Who would have guessed that, with just a tin of evaporated milk, twelves ounces of muscovada sugar and a bit of shortcrust pastry you would be able to transport yourself a few decades back to those days in school when you had no greater concern than working out some excuse for not doing the maths homework and/or worrying about your spots.

A lot of disappointment across the board about Obama’s speech at the Democrat’s Convention, even from the liberal left. But was he ever a great orator or was it all a myth generated by a compliant media that almost everyone else was afraid to confront?

My dad said he was big and beefy with butcher’s hands. He could take a joke but was uncompromising if boundaries were crossed. Several times dad or one of his mates would be dragged by the ear to their home and parents informed in no uncertain terms of the appropriate transgression. No parent argued with Ginger – his word was law…Ginger WAS the law. Ginger exuded authority and never walked away from trouble. He had great physical presence but dad never recalled him actually hitting anyone…..except when some wife had been used too often as a punchbag by her beer...

When Janet Howes died suddenly 17 years ago, her devoted husband Winston decided he wanted to create a lasting tribute to her. The farmer planted thousands of oak saplings in a six-acre field – but left a heart-shaped area in the middle, with the point facing towards his wife’s childhood home.

The big hits of 1963…. Difficult to believe that all these came out almost half a century ago (when I had just started out as a teacher) but each of them still gives me a buzz today, not just as a stroll down memory lane but because they are also still damn good songs.

Look at the sea of Surriento, what a treasure it is! Even who has travelled all over the world, he has never seen a sea like this one.

When you manage to cut through the dross that is pumped out daily by the “music” industry you can sometimes catch the glint of a tiny diamond…. Just listen to Ed Sheeran making us realise that a miscarriage can also be a heartbreaking time for a prospective father..

Of course I am paraphrasing Goering’s famous quote about “culture” – and I also recognise that in a personal capacity I am usually willing to trust the doctor who repairs my hernia or the plumber who fixes my boiler because the chances are they know more about hernias and boilers than I do for they are dealing with them every day. No, the “experts” I would love to threaten are the ones beloved of the media because they need a gap filled in the programme or on the page. Moreover the “expert” is usually produced to push an agenda favoured...

The other day I went up to a local Christian bookstore and saw a “Honk If You Love Jesus“ car sticker. I was feeling particularly excited that day because I had just come from a thrilling choir performance, followed by a thunderous prayer meeting, so I bought the sticker and put it in the corner of my rear window. Am I glad I did! What an uplifting experience followed!

A FORMER British MI6 chief has joined growing calls to end the “war on drugs” and consider legalising them. The battle has left tens of thousands dead in Latin America but failed to reduce drug-use around the world. Here Nigel Inkster, of the International Institute For Strategic Studies, argues that we need to rethink our approach to narcotics.

I have my own concern about lack of remorse based on a recent Guardian Comment is Free article written by an Iraq War veteran who, as free as he walks, insists that what he did in Fallujah was ‘terrorism’ and writes openly in the Guardian, “I, too, support the right of Muslims to defend themselves against US troops, even if that means they have to kill them.” This shocking statement from Ross Caputi is the kind of dangerous nonsense from someone tied up with the Stop The War Coalition, who recently introduced Noam Chomsky at an event and who seems...

So I doubt that, if I had lived in Bolton, I would have gone within a quarter mile of “The Flying Shuttle”, described by the Daily Mail as probably the “toughest pub” in Britain. It appeared to be open all the time, in defiance of the licensing laws, not because the landlord held an open house but simply because the bar staff were too frightened to call time. In the end it took thirteen police officers to close it down and even then there was a mini riot.