Black Dog - or The Labrador That Dare Not Speak Its Name

In a recent post, our good friend Councillor Kelly unleashed yet another tiresome diatribe against the armed forces.

In this post, Terry mentions that Guy Gibson (of Dambusters) fame was a particular hero of his.

However, the poor Councillor, in response to a question in the comments section he is unable to bring himself to print the name of Guy Gibson's dog - Nigger.

The councillor's justification?

Anonymous 15:13

The black Labrador, are you saying he was a racist ? This was the early 1940’s and it was Britain not America.

The word you allude did not carry the same subtext as it does now.

I did respond to the councillor asking why he could not bring himself to print the dog's name and whether, during the 1940's only Americans had sole rights to use the word "nigger" as a derogatory insult. Or was it perhaps only after the war that Americans, having beaten the Germans were looking for a new "evil" to fight?

I further went on to ask whether he thought the dog's name would be retained in Peter Jackson's forthcoming remake of The Dambusters.

I'm still waiting for the councillor to respond. I won't hold my breath.

I think I may have just thrown myself out of the club ...

Terry has a post up regarding Glyn Travis's comments about the pampering of British prisoners. He doesn't blame Maggie, or the SNP (although he doesn't admit, but we wouldn't expect, would we, how much worse 10+ years of Labour Home Secretaries have made things). I couldn't spot a spelling mistake (although his grammar is still cr@p and his formatting appalling - but this is Our Hero we are talking about). In short, a Terry post I actually agree with. Read it yourself.

In case he has a heart attack (he must be high on the risk list) at me supporting him therefore fails to approve my comment, you can see it below:

Entirely - there are a number of appalling failings in the prison system and these do appear to be worse in Scotland.

People with serious mental health or drug problems should be in care, not in prison - I accept that some need to be confined for the safety of society - but the lack of funding, especially for drugs treatment is a disgrace.

Prison should have two purposes - punishment and rehabilitation. The lack of effort put into the latter is disgusting - whether it is some spin doctor's "we can't be seen to be soft on criminals" frankly bollocks, or a lack of understanding about the way some prisons have operated to further distance prisoners from mainstream society.

The status of pregnant and nursing women is an issue for society - especially as so many, compared to the male prison population, are in prison for issues that, frankly, custody is a poor answer for - prostitution and drugs possession offences and non-payment of fines. At the very least, sufficient female staff should be provided to allow as much decorum in their treatment as is compatible with basic security.

The endless ratcheting up of tariffs to appease the Daily Mail brigade, the latest front page outrage and the understandably upset victims needs to be stopped - prison should be a last resort rather than the initial reaction. But that requires proper funding of probation and community sentence options and the ever-absent politician with a backbone.

I am going to have a drink now to convince myself that I have not whole-heartedly agreed with a Terry post.

I'm not sure I feel quite clean.

Work Avoidance Task today

Trawling through SNP blogs today and I came across this utterly fantastic graphic.



I link here

Can You Impress Terry?

It had to happen. At long last a fellow fan has put together a video tribute to our Terry. Sadly Terry is not impressed in fact if I'm not mistaken there is a definite note of contempt in his response.

However like the ultimate triumph of world socialism, it is inevitable that one of Terry's many, many fans will come up with something that meets our favourite councillor's high standards. Who will it be? Come on get film making comrades! Show Terry that we care.

I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for the best Terry tributes and featuring them here and here

Speaking Ill of the Dead

This now seems to be TK's latest tactic. Having a go at people who have passed on, like Charlton Heston.

TK's rationale - Heston was an active member and president of the National Rifle Association. Yet the clowncillor blithely ignores history yet again and makes no mention of Heston's support for the civil rights movement and that Heston took part in the march on Washington led by Martin Luther King.

Heston was quoted as saying: "I marched for civil rights with Dr. King in 1963 - long before Hollywood found it fashionable. But when I told an audience last year that white pride is just as valid as black pride or red pride or anyone else's pride, they called me a racist. I've worked with brilliantly talented homosexuals all my life. But when I told an audience that gay rights should extend no further than your rights or my rights, I was called a homophobe. I served in World War II against the Axis powers. But during a speech, when I drew an analogy between singling out innocent Jews and singling out innocent gun owners, I was called an anti-Semite. Everyone I know knows I would never raise a closed fist against my country. But when I asked an audience to oppose this cultural persecution, I was compared to Timothy McVeigh."

And: "Here's my credo. There are no good guns, There are no bad guns. A gun in the hands of a bad man is a bad thing. Any gun in the hands of a good man is no threat to anyone, except bad people."

Whilst we're on the subject of film stars, recent pictures of Terry remind me of a star of the silent era - Fatty Arbuckle.