The Leader *

Some things to get off my chest tonight, but let's start with my work mess. A "fact-finding inquiry" was undertaken, at which both I and my departmental manager had to give our respective account of things. Inquiry gave report to boss. I was then told by inquiry people that boss would interview me, but they stressed that no formal disciplinary action would be taken. Next day, go into interview and boss says that he has looked into the findings of inquiry and concluded that a simple, but stupid, human error has been made. He adds: "To quote Harry Pollitt, general secretary of the Communist Party, 'the only people who don't ever make mistakes are those who never do anything'."
I sit there thinking: "Reidski does not have heroes, but this guy sitting opposite me is certainly shifting himself into that hitherto empty part of my consciousness that is reserved for such people."

* The Clash - from Sandanista, which is vastly under-rated.

Into The Storm*

My last post is so wrong . . . please disregard it. Everything in there was so right at the time, but everything in there is so wrong now.
The bottom line is that I'm a wanker, full stop. I have made a monumental error. I cannot explain here what the error is, but, hopefully, it will not result in me stating that I no longer have a job!

What I can say, however, is that I visited Virgin tonight on the basis of cheering myself up and bought the following:

The Others - The Others
The Proclaimers - This Is The Story
David Bowie - Lodger
The Ordinary Boys - Over The Counter Culture
The Dears - No Cities Left (this was bought on recommendation of Darren:
it is on as i write and I do like it on first listen)
Jesus and Mary Chain - Psychocandy
New Order - Power, Corrupton and Lies (tnr will like this one - not!)
Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights
Blue Nile - A Walk Across the Rooftops (well, having it on cassette is not
the same, is it?)

*Lift To Experience

I Fought The Law

I have had a policy since I started this blog that I would never mention who I worked for and would never mention my work. Well . . . I'm biting my tongue (or should that be fingers?) tonight! You see, I've been in the High Court today and the team that I was a part of won a great and significant victory which means that a particular group of workers can take strike action this weekend.
Before I go on, let me make it clear to those who do not know me personally that I am not a solicitor and I am not an elected official of any trade union organisation, but merely (if that is the right word) an administrator. Nevertheless, mere administrator maybe, but it was my written testimony which the judge referred to (in fact, the only witness statement for the defendants to be referred to or, even, lodged) in his deliberations and his ultimate judgement.
Anyway, the point being - a group of workers want to take action, Reidski is part of the team which administers this request and carries out the decision taken by the "high heid yins". The boss class decides to mount legal challenge. Reidski's employers decide to mount robust defence. Defence Q.C. and solicitor put Reidski in difficult position when telling him prior to hearing (which we have less than 24 hours to organise and which comes less than 48 hours prior to action by workers) that our case is weak and that maybe we should take up class enemies offer to contemplate suspending action and return to court next week. Reidski thinks: "I cannot make these fucking decisions, but, on second thoughts, surely the workers would think the organisation to be weak if we do not defend what we think is a defendable situation?" So Reidski tries to phone all sorts of people back at HQ and . . . no-one answers their fucking phone. Reidski pauses. Reidski thinks. Reidski says to QC: "If they are offering something, does that mean that they are not sure of their own case?" QC says: "Possibly." Reidski does not want to take any decisions at all at this stage so pushes QC and accompanying solicitor to give their learned advice. "Let's go for it," say both and Reidski thinks: "Thank fuck for that." Decision taken out of my hands and head.
So, in we go and, although I am a complete and utter virgin in such things I think: "This judge is okay." Class enemy keeps saying things like: "It's the defendant's case that...." But the judge continuously says: "Let the defendants say what their case is, I want to hear your case and your arguments as to why the law has been breached."
So we win and working people can disrupt capitalism this weekend.
It made the disruption to my plans for the day all the more worthwhile. I started work at 8am and the rest of the day was going to be: 11am - finish work and head to gym. 12.30 - Camden Centre for London Real Ale Festival. Rest of day - get pissed.
My actual day was: 8am - start work. 8.45 - visit solicitors (during which I asked if I would be needed if there was going to be a court hearing and was told I wouldn't be as my witness statement would suffice). 11am - get back to work (during which I told colleagues I would catch up with them at the beer festival). 12.30 - back to solicitors (during which I asked if I would be needed to appear at court and was told that I should in case the barrister had any questions to put to me, but that this would be a very brief visit). 2pm - go to "Royal Courts of Justice" (that's the High Court to most of us). Between 2.30pm and 3.30pm - hang about and consider class enemy's offers. 3.40pm - go into hearing. 5.50pm - judge goes out to consider judgement. 6.25 - summing up by judge begins. 7.00pm - workers win and Reidski heads for pub.
It was a mental day, a bizarre day and a momentous day in terms of the judge not questioning anything to do with our side and our actions whatsoever, but asking many many many questions of the class enemy.

This post is entitled I Fought The Law, but really it should be called "I didn't break the law by my administrative actions" - but that wouldn't make for the title of a song, would it?

And, finally, don't anyone ask who I work for cos I ain't tellin!

Check It Out *

I don't seem to post much these days, partly cos I can't be bothered and partly cos ... I can't be bothered. Darren over at Inveresk Street does the most mentally prolific posts, as does John at Counago and Spaves, both of which, by the way, I read on a daily basis these days and both of which are for more interesting than the stuff you can read here.

I have a new participant(s) to my blog, and it's a warm welcome to John and Jane. My good friend Messalina has certain problems with this couple, which, I must say, I don't quite get - particularly considering that I believe the latter has taken her moniker from the following:

"In 38 A.D. Claudius had married Valeria Messalina, a scion of a noble house with impressive familial connections. Messalina bore him a daughter (Octavia, born in 39) and a son (Britannicus, born in 41): she was therefore the mother of the heir apparent and enjoyed influence for that reason. In the sources, Messalina is portrayed as little more than a pouting adolescent nymphomaniac who holds wild parties and arranges the deaths of former lovers or those who scorn her advances; and all this while her cuckolded husband blunders on in blissful ignorance."

You can read more about this character here.

Anyway, the point of me coming online tonight was to rant and rave about how much I hate religion. And I don't just mean that I get irritated about religion and can't wait until faith and state are separated. Oh, no. I fucking despise religion in all its forms. I hate christianity, I hate judaism, I hate islam, I hate seventh fucking day adventists, I hate buddhism, I hate mormons, I hate the fucking lot of them and all the rest. Before I go on, I must say that I do like human beings, by the way.
I think it's stupid the way that the SWP and elements of what was once a sensible left got into bed with the Muslim Association of Britain and decided that islam was "cool" and made up the myth of "islamophobia", only to give rise to the nonsense that the left should suddenly defend the indefensible of the "right" of men to cover up women's faces and such like.

I also think it's stupid that, as I may have mentioned previously, our city's mayor, who is an egomaniacal arsehold by the way, gets dragged over hot coals for hissing at a right-wing journalist that he was acting like a concentration camp guard. Now, come on, who has not used this insult when faced with either bureaucratic intransigence or jobsworths? I remember a friend of mine standing in court for a poll tax "crime" when faced with the comment that local authority workers were only doing their job by prosecuting those who didn't pay by saying: "That's what nazis said after the war!" A bit harsh, I thought, but there we go.

It's all fucking stupid. That's why, thanks to Popbitch, I was very glad to see this website. It's certainly for militant atheists like me.

Popbitch, by the way, is a great e-mail service. Please don't tell me that it's the web equivalent of reading the Sun - it's not, it's not, it's not. Even though it gives jokes such as this:

A good Samaritan, a lawyer and a priest are on a boat which begins to sink. The good Samaritansays "Women & children first". The lawyer replies "fuck 'em". The priest looks up, "have we got time"?

Or how about this:

Q. What goes into thirteen twice? A. Roman Polanski.

But it does give some good info such as this:

American artist Edward Stross has been given a jail sentence for painting a mural of Michaelangelo's Creation of Man (featuring a bare breasted woman) outside his gallery in Detroit.

So it's not all tittle tattle.

Just listened to The Streets' A Grand Don't Come For Free - isn't that young Mr Skinner a fucking genius?

* Super Furry Animals - a great example, along with the likes of, among others, The Flaming Lips and Modest Mouse, of why prog rock now is much better than it was back in circa '71-75. But, then again, prog rockers in 2025 might say: "Aren't our prog rockers much better than those who were around in 2000-05?"